A Forbidden Love
by animeloveramy
Summary: She was so fragile, so breakable. He wondered suddenly what could happen. what could happen if she was a demon; like him. would she accept him? would she love him? but it could never be. - please read and reveiw!
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Sesshoumaru/Kagome FF so don't be too harsh ^_^

oxo...oxo

Inuyasha was looking for Kikyo again.

Kagome sighed miserably and Sango looked over at the depressed girl with a look of pity on her face. She was always like this when the half-demon went after the dead priestess and Sango worried about her friend's mental well being. Suddenly, Kagome slipped of the porch in front of the large house they were sat n and began walking towards the forest; bow in hand and arrows on her back.

'Where are you going?' Asked Miroku in open curiosity as his comforting gaze fell on the young priestess. She paused slightly, and turned her head to look at him.

'For a walk.' she answered in monotone. Her voice was devoid of emotion but her face was full of tired despair. The monk nodded silently and Kagome continued to walk, her hair blowing in the wind.

She walked for a long time, not paying attention to where she was walking when she herd his voice.

'Kikyo, I love you! I really do!' Inuyasha cried out to the dead priestess in his arms, desperately trying to get her to believe him.

'And I love you Inuyasha.' she replied tenderly as she moved her face to his and they shared a passionate kiss. Kagome's eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the scene unfolding before her. Tears ran down her face and she span around, running at full pelt away from the clearing. She didn't know where she was going, what she was doing or how long she had run for, but she kept running. Finally, when she could run no more, she collapsed to her knees and wept.

She didn't know how long she cried for, but at that moment, she didn't really care.

xxx

Sesshoumaru sniffed at the air curiously. He could smell the salty tang of tears on a wind coming from the south. Sniffing again, he caught another familiar sent mixed in with the tears. It was Kagome. The demon had been friendlier towards the girl when she had made friends with Rin. Kagome had treated the younger girl like a little sister and he had found himself liking her more and more for it, though, when she was around his half breed brother, he tried not to let it show.

Absentmindedly, he began to run in the direction of her sent. If she was upset, he should help her, right? It didn't take long for him to find her. She was slouched up against a tree, crying quietly, her eyes red and puffy as she looked up to where he had effortlessly rustled the trees.

She quickly fumbled for her bow and an arrow and pointed the weapon at the offending foliage.

'Come out quietly or I'll shoot!' she yelled. Sesshoumaru had to work to keep a smile off his face. At least she hadn't lost her spirit.

Slowly and calmly, he walked through the trees and into her line of vision, one eyebrow raised in question, as if daring her to shoot. The priestess blinked several times before at her unexpected visitor before relaxing the bow slightly so it was pointed at the floor and un-drawn.

Sesshoumaru?' she asked cautiously. 'What are you doing here?'

The dog demon remained silent and looked at her a while before coming to a conclusion, walking steadily towards the girl and causing her to shrink back slightly in fear.

He lifted one of his clawed fingers to her face, catching one of her fallen tears before rubbing the salty liquid between his fingers where it absorbed into his silky skin.

'Why are you crying?' he asked her in curious concern. Her eyes widened at the show of emotion in the demon lord's voice. He had never spoken to her like that before. Quickly, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed, rising from the ground in one fluent movement.

'It's nothing.' she said weakly, looking at the demon guiltily causing his carefully sculpted eyebrow to rise again. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He waited.

He wasn't waiting for long.

'Inuyasha ran off with Kikyo again.' The girl explained, turning her head away as a fresh wave of tears began, these silent. Sesshoumaru looked at the broken girl in front of him and his heart twanged. So his stupid mutt of a half brother was the cause of her sadness; he should have known.

A sudden anger like none he had ever known coursed through him and for a moment the shock outweighed the anger but before longer he was beck to seeing red. A low growl erupted from his throat and Kagome looked up at him in fearful shock. The demon clenched his fist and pulled his steely composure back and forced it to stay put. What was he doing, reacting so strongly?

'That is not your fault.' he told the girl before him. She was watching him curiously, tears still flowing from her eyes they opened slightly in shock at what he had said. How could he have known that was what she was thinking? She closed her eyes in denial.

'But-' she started, but was cut off by fierce lips crashing into her own. Her eyes flew open, wide in shock as she stared at the demon in front of her before her eyes slowly relaxed and flickered closed. She began to weave her arms around his neck and tangle her fingers into his long hair, pulling his face closer to hers.

He hesitated for only a moment; she was so fragile, so breakable, before he let his hands cautiously grip her waist and pulled her body closer to his and running his clawed fingers up her spine. She shuddered and her grip on his hair tightened.

Putting there foreheads together, they broke the kiss, Sesshoumaru letting out a long breath as he opened his eyes. Kagome stared into his usually cold gaze and gasped slightly at the softness of them. Slowly, she unfurled her fingers from his long silver hair and sighed.

'Sesshoumaru...' she breathed and he shuddered slightly at the passion in her voice. She slipped her arms over his shoulders and down around his waist as she pulled herself into a hug, resting her head against his muscular chest.

He subconsciously wrapped his arms tightly around her and her black hair tickled his chin as he rested it atop her head.

She snuggled her tearstained face into the warm fabric covering his torso and he absently started stroking her long, soft hair.

What had happened to him? Had he gone soft? He was a demon, she was human; they were never meant to be, and yet, he loved her, loved her with all his heart.

He pulled hr closer to him, breathing in her sweet, flowery sent as it intoxicated his senses. Slowly, she fell asleep in the dog demon's arms, comfortable and happy, a small smile gracing her soft features.

He pulled her up into his arms so that her head was lolling comfortably against his chest and slowly, and slightly reluctantly, began the short walk towards Edo. He had to take her back to her friends. He couldn't be around her, not really.

He loved her and that was why he couldn't take her into his world. She could be killed so easily. There were more of them in hat group of friends she had and that meant more people to protect her.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes as a rush of emotion almost bowled him over. it was stronger than he had ever felt before and it was so alien to the cold demon he stopped walking, eyes widened in shock as he clutched his heart with his free hand, supporting Kagome with his knee as he buckled over slightly.

Gasping, he got up and began running quickly towards her friends. If he didn't say goodbye soon, well, he didn't know if he could manage it.

When he arrived at the hut that he had guessed was Kagome's due to the fact her sent was all over it, he placed her gently on the floor. He kissed her lightly before he got up; drawing her lemony taste into his mouth so to savor it as he was sure this would be his last chance.

Taking a small hair pin, he placed it next to the sleepy girl as a token of his love and in the hope she wouldn't forget him. It was a family air loom had belonged to his mother, grand mother and great grandmother alike. Taking one last look at the priestess, Sesshoumaru left, running at full speed away from the village and ignoring the unfamiliar feeling of tears falling down his cheeks.

oxo...oxo

Ok, please tell me what you think of this. I'm not sure what to do with it; to leave it as a one-shot or to extend it. Please give me your advice! I'll try to extend it if I get lots of reviews asking me to, otherwise I'll just leave it.

Thank you for reading and please, REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2

oxo…oxo

Kagome woke to the sound of familiar voices whispering noisily around her.

'But how did she get back? I didn't see her come through town.'

_Sango? _Kagome thought to herself. Who were they talking about? Was it her? And who was her friend talking to?

'I do not know Sango, but please, calm down. She's back and she's fine, what does it matter how?'

_Oh; Miroku. _

Her brain was fuzzy as she tried to comprehend the meaning behind her friends words. Slowly, images of a handsome inu-youki began to form behind her still closed eyes and she felt her face grow hot. _Oh my kami! Was that real or was it all just a dream?_

Kagome slowly opened her stiff eyes. They were coated in salt and sleep making it rather difficult for the young miko. Bringing her hands to her face she rubbed her eyes, clearing the gunk from them. Stretching slightly, she lent back and one of her fingers found a small, smooth object. Bringing her eyes to the object she picked it up and examined it.

It was a beautiful hair pin. Made of a dark wood, it was cool and smooth to the touch. The pin itself was blank except for the top which had been coated in gold and encrusted with brilliant blue gemstones. The curved peace that held it together and held the hair onto a woman's head was also extravagantly designed. It was carved in intricate and delicate curves and circles all twisting and turning into each other, but that was not what made Kagome gasp. What made her gasp was the blue crescent moon shaped gem that sat on the back, the same shape, colour and rotation as Sesshoumaru's. It was his family mark.

Kagome stared at it with an open mouth, gently stroking its ornate design.

_Sesshoumaru…_

Getting up, she went over to her big yellow bag and pulled out a small pocket mirror before putting it on the floor and grabbing her hair, twisting it upwards. She then placed the curved peace atop the bun and slid the pin through, keeping it in place. Picking up the mirror, she examined herself. She had to admit that it looked very good. The deep blue of the gems went well with the dark black of her hair and she had left some of it down at the front to make the whole style look more elegant.

Pleased at her work, Kagome smiled, but the smile soon turned to sadness as she thought of Sesshoumaru. Where was he? And why had he left her with nothing but a hairpin?

xxx…xxx

Rin looked at her father figure in concern. He had been in his own, sad little world since he had gotten back from his short trip last night and she didn't know why. He was usually quiet, but he hadn't spoken a word to anyone yet and kept looking off into space.

For the first time since she had met him she was slightly weary to approach him, but she knew it needed to be done. Getting up off the soft grassy floor, she quietly skipped to where he was sat on a large log, staring into the trees, head in hand.

'Sesshoumaru-sama?' she asked, hands behind her back as she leaned forward slightly to get a better look at his face. He blinked and looked down with a look of sadness and confusion in his eyes she had never seen in her lord before. Slightly startled, she continued.

'Is something bothering you?'

Sesshoumaru blinked again and sighed. 'I am fine Rin.'

Rin was confused. Sesshoumaru was being very, well, un-Sesshoumaru like. Noticing the fact that he had skirted the question, Rin raised an eyebrow in a perfect imitation of the demon in front of her. He looked at her and smiled slightly before getting up and beginning to walk away.

Beaming at the fact that he was beginning to act a bit more like himself she began to glide happily after him, arms spread wide as she ran in a wiggly line after her father.

'Hurry Jaken-san!' she called and giggled as she heard the small toad demon give a shrill shriek at being left behind again.

Hopefully this day would turn out better than it had started.

xxx…xxx

'Hey Sango?!' Kagome called as she walked out of her hut, the pin still holding her hair up. Sango turned to look at her friend and began to run over to her.

'What is it Kagome?' she asked curiously, looking at her friends sad expression.

'I need to talk to you.' The miko told her friend who nodded, but when Kagome turned back to the hut, she gasped. Hearing this, Kagome whirled around again and put a finger to her lips pleadingly. Sango kept silent and followed her friend into her hut.

'Where's Inuyasha?' Kagome asked quietly as they sat down on her bed covers.

'He's scouting the forest.'

'So he came back?'

'Yes.'

Kagome sighed and Sango decided she couldn't stay silent about it anymore.

'Where did you get that hairpin Kagome?' she asked, genuinely curious. Kagome blushed making her even more curious.

'I think Sesshoumaru left it for me.' She explained and Sango's eyes widened in shock.

'Sesshoumaru!?' she cried causing her friend to hush her franticly.

'Yes Sango, but please shhhh! That's what I wanted to talk to you about.' The girl explained and the demon slayer quietened.

'What happened?' she asked and Kagome told her everything; Inuyasha and Kikyo, how she had ran, how Sesshoumaru had arrived, the kiss and falling asleep in his arms.

Sango was a good audience and didn't interrupt except for a couple of gasps and a rather loud 'awwww!' that brought Miroku's interest.

'What's going on in there?' he asked jokingly as he knocked on the wood door.

'It's a girl chat Miroku, you wouldn't understand!' Sango called out to him and Kagome giggled slightly at the huff they heard him emit.

'Awww, poor Miroku!' Kagome laughed, joining in; she could almost hear the monk beaming.

Sango smiled at her friend, glad that she was back to her normal self once more and was no longer feeling sad and, she supposed, it was thanks to Sesshoumaru. She just hoped he would continue to make her happy, but the fact he had left her, for whatever reason, was likely to mean there would be more hardships to come.

oxo…oxo

I hope you like my new story. I decided to continue it but I still want people to say if they like the 'Kagome changing into a demon' idea. Thanks for reading and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Enjoy!**

**oxo…oxo**

Inuyasha's ears twitched. They had continued on there journey that morning; Kagome was acting cheerily but they all knew something was wrong and every time they asked Kagome had put on an overly cheery smile and denied that anything was bothering her.

After Inuyasha's fourth time of asking she had become inpatient with the over inquisitive hanyou and had sat him; storming off with frustrated tears in her eyes. Inuyasha however, didn't notice these tears and continued to grumble under his breath, though he did have the sense to leave her alone after.

At the moment, he had paused, sniffing the air and twitching his ears.

'What's the matter Inuyasha?' Miroku asked him as ki-la-la came down beside them. Kagome and Shippo were riding with Sango leaving Miroku to run alongside Inuyasha.

'I can smell something.' Inuyasha replied slowly, sniffing harder with a confused frown on his face.

'What is it?' Sango asked, looking at his expression and frowning.

'I'm not sure… it smells demonic, but there's something else as well, something I've never smelt before.'

**xxx…xxx**

Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose in disgust. The smell of fresh human blood hung heavy in the air. It came a little way from the south of him and he was curious to the cause. He smelled a demon, but something had tainted its blood.

Slowly, the tainted demon blood became stronger and stronger until it overcame the human blood and he could smell nothing but demon.

Curious in spite of himself, he decided to see what was going on.

'Jaken.' He said quietly, quickly bringing the attention of his servant to him.

'Yes Milord?' the green demon asked him, bowing his head slightly as he did so.

'Look after Rin.' He told him bluntly before racing off through the trees them in the clearing with ah-un.

It didn't take long to reach the village, or what was a village. Dead human bodies lay everywhere; woman and children alike. Looking around he saw that most of the houses had been destroyed and some were on fire. There was no sign of the demon but that was not what puzzled Sesshoumaru the most. There was no sent of human blood. All the bodies around him smelt of pure demon; like he had smelt earlier.

Frowning slightly, he bent down next to one of the bodies and sniffed.

Behind him, he heard the bushes rustle and jumped quickly into the air, barely dodging the snake demon that rushed out towards him. Turning sharply and landing atop a tree's branch, Sesshoumaru watched as the snake hissed at him.

The demon smelled tainted and her eyes were red; she seemed to have lost all her self control. He could smell the human blood on her and knew she had been the one to kill all these people. His eyes narrowed menacingly.

The demon opened her mouth wide and hissed loudly before leaping into the air, claws directed straight at Sesshoumaru. Growling slightly, he leaped out the way and drew his sword; Tokijin.

Swiftly, the inu-youki sliced the snake in half, effectively killing her. She let out a painful scream as her body fell to the ground in two halves, her blood covering the once green grass.

It hadn't been much of a fight but Sesshoumaru didn't care as he landed softly next to the slain demon. After sheathing Tokijin, he knelt down and dipped a clawed finger into the tainted blood.

He sniffed it curiously, but couldn't place the tainted smell, before wiping it into the grass and standing back up. He then moved slowly back to where he had left Rin and Jaken, wondering all the time what the tainted smell was and why all the human blood had seemingly changed to pure demon blood.

**xxx…xxx**

Naraku turned his head slightly as a tall man with shoulder length white hair knelt behind him, keeping his hazel brown eyes trained to the ground.

'Takashi. Have you done as I have asked?' The evil half demon asked, his low voice almost growling out the words.

Takashi lifted his head to look at the black haired man in front of him.

'Yes master.' Came his soft reply. His voice was gentle and kind and his eyes were warm and trusting. Naraku nodded, pleased at his servants work.

He still hadn't completely figured this incarnation out. Whenever he was in his presence he was calm and kind like he was now, and yet, he was a brilliant killing machine, following every order at his every command.

'How many demons have you killed and how many have you infected?'

'420 killed and 29 infected. I have infected demons near each of your enemies the most being near inuyasha and his gang.' Takashi replied, bowing his head again as Naraku nodded.

'Good. Inuyasha and his friends won't know what hit them.' The half demon said, a small smirk growing on his face before he began to chuckle darkly and turn back to the crystal ball in front of him.

Takashi took this as a dismissal and got to his feet, turning swiftly to walk out the door. An evil grin was set onto his face and there was a mad glint in his now blood red eyes.

**oxo…oxo**

**Yay! Finished! Thank you for reading!**

**Just to say that now I'm extending it no one seems to be reviewing. I would like to know how I'm doing with this story and if you are glad I extended it or if you think I should have left it. So, PLEASE REVIEW! **

**And I have kind of biased Takashi on Bakura from yu-gi-oh so, yeah. I also got the name off of mori from ouran because I'm not very good with names ^_^ especially Japanese's ones. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Once again I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry if it takes a while to do but I'm kinda swaying between writers block and floods of idea's so, yeah ^_^ **

**Thank you for reading!**

**oxo…oxo**

Kouga growled as the two cat demons flew at him from either side. Jumping up, he avoided them and they crashed into each other with a loud yelp. Sniggering slightly, he landed on the branch of a tall tree and leaned against the trunk.

'Is that really the best you can do?' He shouted down at them mockingly. They raised there heads, red eyes full of blatant anger as they hissed menacingly at the over confident wolf.

Grinning, Kouga jumped down from the tree and kicked the two demons in their heads sending one of them flying. The other, however, blocked his foot and pushed him away.

He landed on his feet, skidding slightly in the dusty grass. He quickly sprung back and landed on his hands next to the cat, swinging his legs round so they hit simultaneously then pushing back up and, using both feet, sent the cat sprawling to the floor as he landed softly on his feet.

Kouga snorted as he looked at the two unmoving cat demons.

'What a load of rubbish.' He muttered quietly to himself as his two wolf demon brothers and the rest of the wolf pack ran up to him**. (A/N Sorry, I can't remember their names! ^^)**

'Whoa…what happened here?' the spiky haired one asked as he surveyed the two unconscious cat demons. 'Their blood smells weird. Almost tainted.'

Kouga sniffed. His brother was right, the cats smelled funny. He hadn't had time to notice earlier as he had been concentrating on fighting the kittens when they had ambushed him.

They had been on there way to see Kagome when they had flown out of the trees and knocked him over.

_Wait! _

He thought urgently.

_Kagome may be in trouble as well! What if the stupid mutt can't look after her! _

With this thought in his head he ran out of the clearing in the direction he had been going before the cats had gone and stopped him.

The wolf brothers looked at each other in exasperation and some of the wolves in the pack wined as they set off after him at a much slower pace, following the whirlwind Kouga brought with him.

**xxx…xxx**

Kagome sighed.

Inuyasha had insisted on checking out the sent he had picked up and so they had changed direction to the south instead of heading east like they had been before.

She couldn't sense any jewel shards in the direction they were going, but then, she couldn't sense any jewel shards anywhere, so it didn't really make much difference.

She was still thinking about Sesshoumaru and what had happened that afternoon. She still wasn't sure of her feelings of the inu-youki; did she love him, or was she just looking for an easy way out of a difficult situation, if you could really call it falling in love with an ice cold demon lord easy. Though, as the day went on, she found herself thinking less and less about Inuyasha and Kikyo and more and more about her wonderful kiss with Sesshoumaru. She hadn't removed the hairpin since she had put it in.

Sighing once again she looked to her left, catching a small glimpse of silver and white among the green of the trees. Eyes widening, she watched as she saw the very demon she had been thinking about running swiftly through the trees.

He was heading in almost the same direction as they were but slightly to the right meaning he would be crossing Inuyasha's path any moment now. Sango had seen this to and Ki-la-la had begun to descend.

'Are you ok to see him?' Sango asked, turning to look back at her friend with worried eyes. Kagome looked at her with and obviously forced smile.

'I'll be fine.'

Sango wasn't so sure, but she continued downwards anyway. Soon enough, Inuyasha's harsh growl of 'Sesshoumaru!' reached their ears and Kagome mentally winced at the hostility in his voice.

As they landed they came across the scene of Inuyasha, with an unsheathed Tetsusiaga, growling at an unmoving Sesshoumaru whilst Miroku stayed back, not wishing to get involved.

Sighing for the third time in less than 10 minutes, Kagome slipped off Ki-la-la with Shippo on her shoulder and walked up to the group. Sango followed quietly behind them.

'Hello Sesshoumaru-sama.' Kagome said; her voice monotone and her face expressionless though her whole stature reeked of frostiness.

Sesshoumaru looked over at her and mentally winced as she herself had done only a few moments ago; she was acting so cold!

Kagome had never used the honorific on his name before and it pained him that she was now doing so. Though he also noticed that her hair had been pinned up at the back, but with what pin, he wasn't sure.

Inuyasha, for his part, was staring dumfounded at the miko, as unused to her using the honorific as Sesshoumaru was. Sniffing slightly at the air he groaned. His grown became louder as Kagome looked over in the direction he had smelled the stupid wolf demon.

He watched as her face fell slightly and she seemed to become slightly agitated.

'I can't be dealing with this right now.' She moaned, Sesshoumaru forgotten as this new problem arose.

'What's the matter?' Shippo asked her curiously, worried for his adoptive mother. Kagome's eyes narrowed.

'There are two jewel shards coming from the west. It's Kouga.' she explained dryly.

Sesshoumaru sniffed the air tentatively and also caught the sent of wolf heading quickly to where they were now. Inwardly sighing, he debated as to whether he should leave and get back to Rin and Jaken who were probably wondering where he was, or whether he should stay to witness the stupid wolf and his stupid half breed brother fight and spend some more time with Kagome.

Before he could decide however, the decision was taken from him as the deranged wolf Kouga stormed through the clearing and latched onto Kagome's hands.

'Hello my dear Kagome!' he greeted, looking deep into her eyes as she looked at him with a miffed (and slightly annoyed) expression on her face.

'Hello Kouga. Why are you here?' she asked in a slightly strained and annoyed voice.

Sesshoumaru was having a hard time keeping his jealousy in check. He had known what would happen when Kouga had entered the group, but he hadn't realised that the effects would be so strong. He could feel his inner Youki battling for control but, thankfully, he managed to keep it at bay. He also hoped that no one would notice how his facial features twitched every now and again. Of course, someone did.

Miroku watched as the inu-youki's famous composure began to crumble around him. His head was down, his fringe covering his eyes and his upper lip twitched every now and again.

It was amusing to say the least but also intriguing. Why would Sesshoumaru care so much about a human? And a human miko at that. Shrugging mentally and deciding to store the information away for later examination, he turned back to the fight that was about to rage between Inuyasha and Kouga.

'Well Kagome, I was on my way to see you when I was attacked by two deranged cat demons that had lost control of their beasts.' Koga replied to Kagome's earlier question and all eyes turned to him in interest.

'I beat the crap out of them and rushed here to see if you were alright and that Inuyasha hadn't let you get killed.' He finished, staring into Kagome's eyes lovingly.

Smiling sweetly at him, Kagome gently removed her hands from his and moved backwards a step.

'Well thank you very much Kouga but, as you can see, I am fine. We haven't been attacked.' She said, trying to placate him.

'Yes, and I would be able to protect her way better than you could wolf!' Inuyasha, who had been fuming over Kouga's comment, yelled, pointing his finger at the wolf demon who turned towards him.

'Oh yeah mutt face? You think _you_ could protect _my_ woman?'

'Yeah! And she aint your woman!'

The two where standing nose to nose growling at each other. In all the chaos the group didn't realise what was happening around them. One of them was Sesshoumaru slinking off out of the clearing heading in the direction he had been going and the other was the three red eyed demons that where watching them through the bushes.

**oxo…oxo**

**Sorry about the cliff-hanger but I thought it fit somehow ^_^**

**I hope you like my story and I have to say that I am not very good at writing fight scenes ether verbally or physically so sorry if they suck slightly. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you REVIEW!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for reading my amazingly fabulous story! *grins cheekily***

**^_^**

**oxo…oxo**

Sango was the first to notice that Sesshoumaru had left. Looking around, she decided that all this group arguing must have gotten too much for him. She tried to sense his aura to see whether he was close enough that she would be able to catch up with him, but she couldn't feel him anywhere.

Suddenly, she froze. They had been surrounded by three fairly strong demons and due to the argument no one had noticed. Slowly, she reached for hiricotse, finding herself glad that she was in her battle outfit already and wasn't unprepared.

'Guys.'

She spoke softly, but the whole group looked at her, curious as to the tone she had said it in.

'We have company.'

And that was all the warning they got.

The three demons sprang from the trees, each heading for a different target. A large lizard demon shot strait at Miroku who blocked it with his staff, batting the demon into a tree to his left.

A cat demon slashed her claws at Inuyasha causing him to jump into the air to escape, landing on the other side of the clearing and growling at the cat who hissed menacingly back.

The last demon, an inu-youki, ran at Kagome, ambushing her from behind and sending her to the ground. Screaming, Kagome rolled, landing on he back with the demon on top of her. The inu grinned evilly, showing her teeth as she bent down to the miko's arm.

Kagome gasped as fangs cut deep into her arm and began to pull.

_She wants to pull my arm off!_She mentally screamed, closing her eyes and waiting for the pain. But it never came. Suddenly, the weight was off her and he fangs where gone. Exhaling deeply, Kagome sat up slightly to see Kouga and the Inu rolling on the ground, kicking and punching each other at any and every possible moment.

Miroku and Sango had paired up and were battling with the lizard while Inuyasha was still with the cat demon. The red eyed demon's where still going strong if not looking a little worse for wear.

Looking down at her arm, Kagome hissed. It was a deep wound and the whole arm was throbbing slightly. She felt dizzy. Something was different about this wound than normal ones. Her head spinning, Kagome fought to stay conscious.

That battle didn't last long and she soon felt her world turn black.

**xxx…xxx**

Finally, Miroku decided the fight had gone on long enough and shouted to everyone to get out of the way. They complied and he opened his wind tunnel pulling all three demons screaming into the hole in his hand.

They all stood stock still as they regained their breath. When breathing had returned to normal, they looked around to survey the damage. There were a few broken trees but that wasn't what worried them most.

'Kagome!' Inuyasha cried as they ran towards the unconscious girl. Shippo was sitting next to her, a worried expression on his young face.

'What happened Shippo?' Miroku asked in concern as he looked at the large gash on her arm.

'One of the demons attacked Kagome! She was about to rip her arm off when Kouga came and knocked her off. It was so scary! Then Kagome just fell unconscious!' Shippo cried, tears now rolling down his face.

'That smell…' Inuyasha murmured as he sniffed. 'That's not Kagome is it?'

'What do you mean?' Sango asked urgently.

'Kagome's sent is changing. She smells like a demon now.' Koga explained, being able to smell it to.

The demon blood was spreading throughout her body starting from her arm and going all around her body before reaching her heart. Everyone sprang back as she screamed in pain. It was an agonizing scream that pulled at all their heartstrings.

She wriggled and writhed as the change began to happen. The first noticeable thing that happened was that her wound healed, the skin and muscle knitting itself back together. The next was her ears. They became pointed like a demon's. Her hair grew two silver streaks; one on ether side of her face. Two stripes appeared on her face and wrists, not unlike Sesshoumaru's only that they were a pale green in colour.

She also grew a set of pearly white fangs.

The group was stunned. After her transformation was seemingly over, she became still, her breathing rapid. Miroku laid a hand on her forehead. She had a very high temperature; probably a reaction to the demon blood now pulsing through her body.

'We need to get her to a healer.' He decided turning to look at Inuyasha. 'I think you should carry her Inuyasha. We'll get there quicker.'

The half demon nodded, picking Kagome up bridal style. 'Where's the nearest village?'

He had asked Miroku but Kouga spoke up.

'I passed one on my way here. It's about two miles in that direction.'

Inuyasha nodded and began to run quickly in the direction the wolf had pointed in. Ki-la-la transformed and Miroku, Sango and Shippo jumped on.

'Are you coming with us Kouga?' Sango asked, tilting her head slightly in question. Kouga shook his head.

'No. I'm going to look for Naraku. I'm sure he's got something to do with all this and I'm going to make him pay for what he's done to Kagome!'

And with that he ran off in the opposite direction while the other four followed inuyasha and Kagome toward the village.

**xxx…xxx**

Pain was all Kagome could feel. Pure, agonizing pain. She tried to move, but found herself unable to. The pain was no longer only in her arm, it covered her whole body and she could feel her miko powers trying to fight whatever was the cause of this immense pain.

She felt her body shift as if she was flying and suddenly other feelings where coming back to her. She could feel the jolt in her stomach as she, or the person who was carrying her, landed and took off again. She could also feel the wind jostling her hair around her face and the fur on her tail ticking her legs.

_Wait! Did I think tail? And fur__? _

This discovery pulled her farther out of her pain and paralysis. Running her tongue over her teeth she discovered a pair of pointed fangs.

_Fangs?! What in the name of kami is going on?_

She remembered nothing but darkness and pain. Her body shuddered involuntarily and she heard a soft voice pleading in her ear, giving comfort and telling her to hold on.

_Inuyasha. _She thought, her mind calming at the familiar presence beside her. Relaxing slightly, she let herself drift into a shallow sleep, waiting to get to where they were going and hoping that the pain would soon end.

**xxx…xxx**

Inuyasha sped up as he felt Kagome shudder in his arms.

'Come on Kagome, don't give up now! We're nearly there! You're going to be fine, I know it!' He whispered urgently in her ear as he ran. He relaxed slightly as a small smile graced his friend's delicate features.

He could hear the other four in the group following him but there was no sound or smell of Kouga. Not that he really minded, but he was slightly curious as to why the wolf demon whom had always called Kagome 'his woman' would leave when she was hurt.

Dully, he also wondered where his brother had run off to. There had been something strange going on with him today. But then, Kagome had been acting rather weird also.

Was it connected? If so, how? And why?

Lots of people thought him dense and he had to admit that he was about some things, but this was not one off them.

She had been acting strange since that night he and Kikyo had…

_Shit! Did she overhear? _He thought, his heart skipping a beat in his panic. Maybe that was why she was being so frosty, but what about Sesshoumaru? Why was he acting odd?

_Oh, this is all way too confusing! My head hurts…_

Deciding to figure it out later, he stored the information away for further use and once again concentrated on getting to the village.

It didn't take long after that and as soon as the group landed they asked the nearest person where their healer was.

She was situated in a small hut in the middle of the village. Miroku knocked on the door and they waited.

A middle age woman with long brown hair and brown eyes wearing miko attire answered and the monk bowed low.

'Excuse me maim but our friend has been hurt and needs the aid of a healer. Do you think you could help us please?' He asked politely, holding back an impatient inuyasha who was about ready to storm in and demand that she help.

The miko smiled.

'Of course, come in.' she replied, ushering them through the door. 'Put her on the bed.' She ordered and inuyasha complied, keeping his mouth shut for once.

'My name is Midriko Kasakowa. What are your names and what exactly is wrong with your friend?' she asked.

'I'm Miroku. This is Sango, Inuyasha, Shippo and that's Kagome. We don't really know what's wrong with her but she got bitten by a rouge inu-youki and seemed to change into one. Now she's in this coma like state and seemed to have a fever.'

'She grew a tail on the way here.' Inuyasha grumbled moodily and they all turned to look at him.

'Really?' Shippo asked curiously and Inuyasha nodded.

'Was she a miko?' Midriko asked thoughtfully, her question cutting through the others thoughts.

'Yes. Yes she was.' Miroku answered. He sounded as thoughtful as Midriko as he pondered this fact. 'Do you think she might be trying to fight the demon blood now in her veins?' he asked and she nodded slowly.

'It's a possibility.' The older miko answered. 'If so then there isn't much I can do. We'll just have to wait it out and see if she's strong enough to survive the change and hope that the miko inside her doesn't end up destroying her.'

**oxo…oxo**

**Well. There's another chapter finished. Sorry about leaving it on a kind of half cliff hanger but it couldn't be helped. *sigh's dramatically* oh well…**

**Don't forget to REVIEW!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for reading! **

**IMPORTANT!!!! Please read the note at the end, it's important for my next chapter and I need to get results before I can continue. Thank you for spending this time reading my story and I hope that you enjoy it! ^_^**

**oxo…oxo**

Sesshoumaru was in the middle of a fight when the sent of Kagome's blood reached his nose and the smell itself turned out to be a brilliant distraction for the red eyed bear Youki attacking him who took this chance to swipe at Sesshoumaru, effectively slamming the demon lord hard into a tree.

Sesshoumaru gasped and his eyes widened slightly as the force of him hitting the tree winded him and separated the trees roots from the ground causing them both to topple backwards into the grassy mud.

'Sesshoumaru-sama!' Came Rin's horrified cry as she watched her father and friend coughing, trying to get oxygen back into his system.

The bear swiped his paw at him again but this time Sesshoumaru dodged, jumping back and landing on the tree that was now laying on the grassy floor.

Growling, he pulled out Tokijin and slashed the sword at the approaching bear cutting his arm off.

Screeching in anger and pain the bear charged. Sesshoumaru smirked as he cut the demon in half, blood spurting everywhere as he then exploded into hundreds of little peaces.

Shaking off the blood, he sheathed Tokijin ant turned to find Rin running up to him with tears running down her cheeks. When she reached him she attached herself to his leg.

'I was so scared!' she wailed into the fabric covering his knee. He gently placed a hand on her head and looked up to see a tired and slightly beaten looking Jaken.

'Well done Jaken. You managed to protect Rin for the time it took me to get here.' He told the green demon who blinked at the unexpected praise. Then he quickly bowed.

'Thank you milord!' he cried in his high pitched voice only to look up and find he was being ignored.

Sesshoumaru sniffed at the air around him trying to pick up Kagome's sent. He frowned. Her usual sent was gone, being replaced by one almost exactly the same. The only difference between the two scents was the fact that while her original sent smelled human, her new sent smelled demon.

What had happened?

**xxx…xxx**

Takashi grinned as he cut the demon I half with his katana. He knew very well that he was just a pawn in Naraku's evil plots and as much as he hated that fact he had to admit that killing these pathetic demons was rather fun if not tiresome in a way.

Absently, he wondered what Naraku would do if he switched sides. Unlike Kagura, he had his heart; it seemed Naraku ether didn't think he was smart enough to betray him or thought he wouldn't ever want to.

This got him curious. What would it be like to fight for the side of good? He considered it for a moment before grinning.

He wanted to try it out.

Closing his scarlet eyes he meditated, stretching his mind out to the surrounding area, looking for the group that Naraku seemed to hate. When he had found them he opened his eyes again. This time they where a soft brown and had lost their mad glint.

Still grinning, he began to run swiftly toward the village Inuyasha and his gang where staying.

**xxx…xxx**

Inuyasha growled in impatience and worry as he paced around the small hut, Sango watching him with misty eyes with Ki-la-la curled up on her lap. Miroku was chopping herbs and vegetables and putting them in a large pot that was bubbling over the fire while Midriko sat crushing herbs to use as a painkiller. Shippo was sitting cross legged next to Kagome, watching the pale demon as she slept through her main transformation.

'Calm down Inuyasha. Pacing will not do you or her any good.' Miroku said slowly, not taking his eyes off the vegetable in his hand as he spoke to the hanyou. Inuyasha turned and snarled at the monk before continuing with his pacing.

Miroku sighed. _At least he didn't snap at me I suppose._ He thought to himself absently.

Kagome gave a sudden cry of pain and the whole hut stopped moving. Her face was flushed and her features were pulled up into an ugly grimace of pain. Inuyasha winced.

_What if Kouga hadn't been near? She would have been killed! It's all my fault…it's all my fault…_

The guilt was eating him up inside.

**xxx…xxx**

Pain.

Once again pain was her only company. She could hear herself cry out as a huge jolt rocked her slight frame before letting her go again into the dulled pain of before.

What had happened to her? She still couldn't remember anything. Mentally growling she forced her mind to stay conscious, even if she couldn't move her body. _I need to stay awake!_

A small paw tickled her face as it ran across her forehead. It gave her comfort and a small release from the pain.

She could feel her body changing. Was all this pain because she was fighting the change happening within her? If so, what would happen if she decided to accept the change? Would it be worth it? She wouldn't know unless she tried.

_I wish to accept the change. _She thought and suddenly, all in a rush, the pain flew out of her and she felt like she was flying.

**xxx…xxx**

Kagome opened her eyes and blinked to clear them. Everything was blurry; as if she where under water. She heard a small gasp next to her and she turned her head to the small figure beside her. Blinking quickly, she smiled when the blurriness cleared and she recognised the figure as Shippo.

'Hey Shippo.' She croaked, not having used her voice in a while it had fallen into disuse and she found it hard to speak.

There where tears in Shippo's eyes as he jumped into her arms. 'Kagome! I missed you so much!'

Kagome chuckled and looked around, testing her new form. She could hear for miles and smell for miles. It was a strange feeling and all the scents and sounds intrigued and excited her.

'Kagome?'

The voice was quiet, but she heard and recognised it easily. Smiling, she turned to where the hanyou was standing, relief evident on his face as he looked at her. Sometime during her pain she had forgiven him. It was not his fault who he loved; just as she now, or maybe she always had, loved Sesshoumaru.

'Hello Inuyasha. How are you?'

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed slightly in pain and if she didn't know better, Kagome would say he was about to cry.

'Baka. It's yourself you should be worried about.' He told her, crossing his arms and turning away.

Kagome smiled happily as she looked at her friends; Sango was near to tears and Miroku was beaming at her. Ki-la-la mewed happily and jumped up to curl herself into Kagome's lap. The miko sat up and cuddled the fire neko gently.

Slowly, Sango stood, walked over to her sister and hugged her.

'I thought I'd never see that smile again.' She whispered into Kagome's uniform and the girl smiled; hugging her sister back.

'You can't get rid of me that easily!' she joked and Sango laughed, pulling back and wiping the tears from her eyes. Kagome chuckled lightly and turned to the only person in the room she didn't recognise. Miroku caught her gaze and decided to introduce them.

'Kagome, this is Midriko. She's the healer who helped you.'

Midriko nodded and Kagome smiled at her.

'Thank you very much for the help. I hope it wasn't too much trouble.' Kagome said, bowing her head in respect for the elder Miko.

'Not at all! It was no trouble.' She replied, smiling back at the girl in front off her.

Slowly, Kagome got to her feet. She wobbled slightly and strong hands caught her under her arm, pushing her back up and balancing her. She turned to look at her rescuer (sort of) and found herself looking into soft brown eyes surrounded by snow white hair.

'Hi ya!' He said chirpily, bringing up a hand in greeting and smiling. She smiled back, a tad startled.

'Hi. Who are you?'

His smile grew.

'My name is Takashi Shuoh.' He replied, bowing his head and taking Kagome's hand before kissing it gently. 'May I ask yours my lady?'

'Kagome Hagarashi.' She replied, a slight blush dusted onto her cheeks.

'Lady Kagome. It's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a beautiful dog demon.' He flirted, straightening up and grinning at the flushed miko. Kagome was well used to the flirting of men but no one had ever made her feel like that and it intrigued her. He was very good at what he did. Looking past her, Takashi brought his attention to the elder miko behind.

'Are you the miko of this village?' he asked her. She nodded curiously at the traveller and ushered him inside. Kagome, Inuyasha Miroku, Sango and Shippo walked out into the peaceful sunshine of the village. There where people of all different stature doing different jobs, chatting to each other and laughing at private jokes. Everyone knew each other and it gave the village a nice homey feel to it.

All the excitement and good feeling in the village lifted Kagome's spirits and she laughed happily. The others looked at her in ether surprise or amusement as she began to twirl, her happiness flowing into them. Suddenly, she turned to Inuyasha, a challenging grin on her face.

'Race me.' She stated simply but it caused Inuyasha's eyebrows to rise and his eyes to widen. It had been the first time he or anybody else had looked into her eyes since she had woken up and he had noticed their change in colour. They where now a strange combination of gold and green, beautifully coloured in green with golden flecks around the middle, instead of their usual brown.

As he got over his shock he grinned. 'You are so on!' he said cockily and they both took off, flying through the trees and racing towards a clearing they both knew was nearby. Little did they know just who was in the clearing and what that person held in their futures. Maybe they would have if they had been paying more attention. Maybe things would have gone different, but no. it was not to be.

**oxo...oxo**

**Well then****. **

**Sorry for the wait people but I had a bit of a case of writers block that I think I'm over now. Sorry if the next chappie takes a while to do as well but I'm trying not to rush this.**

**Also, any ideas as to who could be in the clearing would be greatly appreciated. Should it be:**

**Sesshoumaru?**

**Naraku?**

**Takashi?**

**Kikyo?**

**A**** new character?**

**Someone**** else? (if so please specify)**

**Thanks for reading and please remember to REVIEW!!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR BUSY SCEDUALS TO READ THIS STORY!!!!! lol**

**I only got one review so i took her advise and wrote this.**

**oxo…oxo**

Sesshoumaru looked up as the familiar sent of his brother caught in his nose. Sniffing slightly, he frowned. Kagome's sent was with him and they where moving quickly towards the clearing. Her sent bothered him. It was unfamiliar and yet, he new it was her.

She still smelled distinctly of demon. Sesshoumaru was curious as to why and as they where coming towards the clearing he was sat in, he decided to stay there. Rin and Jaken had gone on Ah-Un to try and find some food and a water supply and so wouldn't be there to bother them. He could have found the items easily on his own but Rin had been determined to find them for him and he hadn't been able to say no to the puppy eyes she had given him.

He was a failure as a harsh and cold demon lord.

Too busy wallowing in this realisation; he didn't notice how close the pair where until they crashed through the trees and landed in a laughing pile in the floor. Limbs flailing as they tried to maintain dignity and balance, they pulled themselves to their feet, still laughing and still having not noticed the stoic demon lord leaning against a tree watching them.

In fact, said demon lord was not so stoic at the moment as jealousy at his brother was causing through his veins like hot iron. Nothing showed on the outside but on the inside he was struggling to control an emotion that he had never felt before. It confused him. Like the feeling of hurt, pain and love, he was unused to feeling it and it struck him hard.

Getting up in one swift, unbroken moment, he began to walk towards the still laughing pair.

'I so beat you!' Kagome exclaimed happily, pointing a finger at Inuyasha. The hanyou scoffed.

'Nah you didn't!' he joked back. 'I beat you by a whole toe!'

It was Kagome's turn to scoff and she did so, placing her hands on her hips and racing an eyebrow at him. 'Wow, a toe!' she said, a sarcastic tone in her still jokey voice. Suddenly, she sniffed, her eyes growing wide as she turned to Sesshoumaru, finally noticing his presence in the clearing.

'Sesshoumaru!' she gasped, resisting the urge to go up and hug the demon lord. Inuyasha turned quickly to glare at his brother, drawing Tetsusiaga and growling slightly. Kagome frowned at her best friend's behaviour. Sesshoumaru wasn't on her good books either but that didn't mean she was going to growl at him. A strange sent filled her nose. It was mixed in with Inuyasha's sent but there was a salty sort of smell mixed with it. Looking to her new found demon instincts they told her it was the smell of anger. Intrigued, she smelled Sesshoumaru and was surprised and the metallic smell that her instincts told her was the smell of jealousy.

She looked at him in ewe until a confused look began to cross his face. In a sort of response, Kagome mouthed the words on her tongue.

'You're jealous.'

No sound left her mouth but Sesshoumaru understood and his emotions went through rapid change giving Kagome the chance to learn more emotions. A hot sweet, sugary smell meant love, a sharp smell meant shock, a bitter smell meant depression and a grassy smell meant guilt. Her eyes narrowed in curiosity as she discovered she could now read the emotions of this normally emotionless Youki like a book. A grin spread on her face as she brought this notion home. With this grin Kagome gained the knowledge of a tangy smell meant uncertainty and a leafy smell meant worry. Her grin widened.

All this had happened within only a few seconds and Sesshoumaru's expression hadn't changed an inch. Inuyasha, as blind as he was, hadn't noticed their little exchange.

'What are you doing here Sesshoumaru?'

Tearing his eyes from Kagome, Sesshoumaru blinked and looked at his half-brother. A snarl was etched into Inuyasha's face as he glared at his older brother. Sesshoumaru snorted in amused disbelief.

'I was resting here. You're the ones who came and invaded my silence with your noise.'

'What?!'

As Kagome watched this exchange she began thinking. She knew she was an Inu demon; her instincts had told her that, but she new not how to control her power or indeed, what powers she had. She needed a sensei to teach her to fight and use the power she has if she has any. None in her group could teach her that, not even Inuyasha as none but Shippo where full demon and he was too young.

Kagome knew where her mind was taking her but she refused to accept it.

_I can't be taught by him, he would crush me! And besides, he probably wouldn't want to teach me. He did leave me after all._ She thought, trying her best to convince herself not to ask but there was no denying he was the best candidate. She subconsciously touched the pocket where her pin was. Though she had taken it out to keep it safe, she kept it on her at all times.

She looked again at the demon lord in front of her and gulped. She knew she had to, it would gain her a master and a lot more time with him if she did, everyone's happy! But would he be? _You'll never know unless you try!_ She told herself in an overly cheery voice to try and settle her nerves. It worked slightly and she smiled, breathing a deep breath in and walking over to the bickering pair.

This was the first time Sesshoumaru had really looked at her since they arrived and he was slightly stunned at what he saw. Her ears, golden eyes and stripes reminded him slightly of himself and he knew straight away that she had somehow become demon; Inu-youki.

Her hair raven contrasted nicely with the silver stripes that had grown in it and her tail was the same; fluffy and thick with silver hairs down the bottom of the tail and black ones on the top. She smiled uncertainly at him and he realised she wanted to ask him something. Completely ignoring the yelling hanyou, he turned to face Kagome as she strode purposefully towards him.

Inuyasha, noticing he was being ignored, turned to look at whatever his brother was now focused on and seeing Kagome, groaned slightly. He knew that look. It was the look she wore when she wanted something but wasn't entirely sure how to get it. This of course, meant that what she wanted was something from Sesshoumaru. If she wanted something from him she would just sit him.

Kagome stopped a few feet away from them and an awkward silence followed as she looked for the right words. Biting her lip and playing with her sleeves, she looked up at Sesshoumaru, an uncertainty in her eyes that intrigued him.

'Um, Sesshoumaru?' she asked cautiously. He raised his eyebrows at her strange behaviour. Obviously she was going to ask some big favour of him, or a personal question. In front of Inuyasha, he hoped it were the former.

'Yes Kagome?' he prompted, fighting to keep the smile off his face. Kagome, sensing his amusement, wondered steadily whether it was still a good idea but soldiered on forward.

'Do you think that maybe you might be able to become my sensei?' she asked quickly, blurting it all out before she could loose her nerve and taking it back. Apparently, stunned had a whole smell to its own that was separate from surprise. It was a sharp smell but not a citrus smell like surprise; it smelled more of the disinfectant back from her time. She wrinkled her nose at the pure amount of it that was suffocating the air.

Sesshoumaru had frozen in shock. She wanted to become his student. He supposed it made sense, she was new at being a demon and needed to know about any power she had. She would also need help controlling her beast and as Inuyasha was only half demon he wouldn't know how ether. He thought about the possibilities of being able to spend time with her and he suddenly wanted nothing more but to accept her request. There was nothing stopping him anymore and she needed a master, no one would suspect anything.

Inuyasha was the first one to say anything and when he did speak he didn't do it quietly.

'WHAT!' he yelled, causing a few birds to lift from their perches and fly up into the air.

The other two turned to look at him with matching, expressionless looks on their faces. Inuyasha gulped slightly before growing himself a backbone.

'What you wana be _his_ student for?!' he asked, his voice lowered but still rather loud. Kagome tutted and Inuyasha felt like he was a kid again being scrutinised for saying 2 + 2 = 5.

'Because Inuyasha, though it's really none of your business, I'm now an Inu-youki and I need to learn how to control myself. I cannot learn that from you as you are only a half demon and won't be able to teach me all the things I know. This makes Sesshoumaru here the best candidate providing he accepts my request.' She looked at the demon lord pointedly as she finished her little speech. He got the drift and nodded slightly.

'I believe it a good idea also. You need to be taught for your own sake and others and who better to do that than me? I must warn you though; I'm not the most patient of teachers.'

Sesshoumaru's words and tone where harsh but the look in his eyes where soft and loving. Kagome was surprised at the extreme difference. She smiled at his acceptance and looked into his golden eyes, so like her own now but a slightly different shade. He was gorgeous. She didn't know why it had hit her so hard just then but she knew it; she loved him, loved him dearly and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't want to. He was perfect and the only thing more she could ask of him now was that he would love her in return, but though she had believed it that night, she didn't anymore. Why would he have left her if he loved her?

**xxx…xxx**

Kikyo had been strolling.

She didn't know where she was going but there was a tug that brought her in the direction she had been walking in and so she had followed it. This feeling had brought her south and she had stopped in a clearing to make camp for the night. There was a village nearby that she could have stayed in but the strange feeling in her had told her to stop here and so, she did so.

The morning came quickly as the sun rose into the sky, lighting the tree she was sleeping in and telling her body clock it was morning. Yawning slightly out of habit rather than necessity, she jumped from the tree and landed gracefully on the ground. With no need to eat she didn't bother to look for food and instead searched for healing herbs. She found a few but not any that would help her in an emergency.

Suddenly, she turned. She had heard a loud cry coming from the west. As she watched the birds fly away, she pondered on the voice. It had sounded an awful lot like inuyasha and he didn't sound happy. The jewel shards where in that direction as well, indicating Kagome was with him but another aura accompanied them. It was a strong and powerful aura and she guessed it was Sesshoumaru. What other demon that powerful would stay around inuyasha without him killing them or them killing him?

**xxx…xxx**

Takashi mentally cursed as he got out of the elder miko's hut and found the group gone. He had gone to the miko with a cut hoping it would give him a chance to talk to inuyasha but he hadn't thought Kagome would have recovered so quickly especially with her miko blood fighting the change as well. _She must be very strong willed._ He thought curiously as he began to walk back through the village, absently following Inuyasha's aura.

As he reached the woods, he began to run and soon spotted the large fire neko in the air in front of him. Tailing them he ran through the trees quickly landing before spring-boarding off and jumping to the next one.

He would find them and join their group. He really wanted to try his hand at being good. It was mainly out of curiosity but was now bordering on obsession. He was pretty sure it wasn't good for him.

**xxx…xxx**

Ki-la-la followed the scents of Kagome and inuyasha as best she could from the air as they flew in the direction they had gone. Sango, Shippo and Miroku where her passengers for this flight and she made sure to treat them with the utmost respect. She knew that they wanted speed but she also knew that they wanted to find the two Inu's and she couldn't do that if she was going to fast. They would have to settle for a compromise and so far, they hadn't objected.

She was pleased at that. There wasn't much she could have done if they had but they seemed to realise and respect that following two fast demons was no easy task when they where no where in sight.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's loud cry made her ears twitch as she watched a swarm of birds fly from the trees not too far away.

'Ki-la-la!' her mistress cried, urging her onward towards the sound that, even with inferior hearing, they had also heard. Whether they had recognised it was yet to be seen as she increased her pace towards the clearing.

**xxx…xxx**

Takashi also heard Inuyasha's cry of rage and shock and, noting Ki-la-la's increasing speed, he began to run in the direction it had come from. Passing under a cloud of birds he quietly wondered who or what had gotten him this riled.

Expanding his mind into the clearing he was surprised to find that there where three people in the clearing. Inuyasha, Kagome and Sesshoumaru. He had a good feeling that it had been Sesshoumaru that had caused Inuyasha to yell like that.

He was such a sensitive mutt.

**oxo…oxo**

**I hope you liked what you read and I hope you intend to read more when I write it! I seem to be chocker full of idea's for this one so hopefully it wont be long and maybe I might be able to actually finis this one!!!!**

**Though, now I've said that it won't happen, lol! Thank you for reading and, please, REVIEW!!!!!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope you enjoy!!!!**

**oxo…oxo**

Kagome smiled inside. She hadn't expected Sesshoumaru to agree to her request so soon or even at all. The fact that he had done so without any particular thought both excited her and scared her. Did she really want to go through with this? Looking up at him she found her answer.

Of course she did. Why wouldn't she?

Smiling on the outside this time, she turned to look at the trees. She could sense many people coming towards them in many different directions. Kikyo was coming quickly from the east and Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Ki-la-la and that Takashi guy was coming from the south. She noticed as Sesshoumaru lifted his nose to the wind and could smell the curiosity coming from him as he discovered who was coming as well. Inuyasha was doing the same but annoyance mixed with the curiosity coming from him as he sniffed. His eyes widened slightly and shock and fear filled the air as he caught Kikyo's scent. Glancing fearfully at Kagome, he noted that she was looking coldly in the same direction.

The first to arrive where the rest of the gang on Ki-la-la followed shortly by Takashi whom opted to remain hidden for a moment or two before making his entrance.

'Hello Kagome!' he greeted, waving his hand in much the same manner as before. Kagome grinned at him, walking over to talk.

'Hey Takashi! What are you doing here?' she asked him curiously and he smiled guiltily, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

'Well, I was running nearby when I heard Inuyasha's yell and thought I had better come check it out. I obviously didn't need to as you seem to have many friends but I'm glad I made the visit as it means I get to see your pretty face again.' He said earnestly, gazing deep into her eyes and causing her to blush.

Kagome had decided that though his style was very like Kouga's, he was much better at it. He made her feel special.

Sesshoumaru, for his part, was feeling distinctly put out as he watched Kagome blush at the other demon's antics. Though he knew that he loved her, he wasn't sure whether she felt the same way and this little episode began to make him believe she didn't and he felt jealousy's claws as they came up to grab him.

Kikyo peered through the bushes and her eyes connected with the eyes of Inuyasha. He nodded slightly and she turned; walking back into the forest with inuyasha following quietly behind.

Sango watched him go and suddenly felt a pang of pity for both him, Kikyo and Kagome. _Why does it have to be this way? _She thought bitterly to herself as she caught Miroku's eye. The look in them told her he had had seen what she had seen and felt the same way. Dragging her gaze to Kagome, she saw the usual drawn look in her eyes and knew she had at least sensed the pair's exit. Her eyes narrowed in deep pity as she looked at her depressed friend. She may have fallen for Sesshoumaru but she still hadn't gotten over Inuyasha.

This was a problem.

**xxx…xxx**

Inuyasha followed Kikyo silently through the bushes. He was wondering blankly whether doing so had been a good idea. He had felt his brothers eyes on his back as he had walked out off the clearing and wondered why he had excepted Kagome's request so easily. He was by no means a fool and new \bout Kagome's feelings for him, but he couldn't help his feelings for Kikyo.

He liked Kagome, he really did, it was just he didn't feel for her like a lover. He liked her as a friend and a sister and he felt really bad about it. He acted like he didn't know to try and hide her from that truth and let her go on and believe it; looking back, it was probably the worst thing he could have done but he hadn't wanted to hurt her. He still loved her, even if it wasn't in the way she wanted him to.

Keeping his head down, eyes covered by his fringe, he continued to run through the trees behind Kikyo, stopping when they burst into a clearing almost identical the one they had been in previously. She turned toward him, a sad look in her eyes.

'You have to tell her.' She said, skilfully masking her pain and sadness from her voice. He nodded quietly. Thoughtfully.

'She's going to train with Sesshoumaru. If I tell her just before she leaves then maybe she will be able to forgive me by the time she gets back.' He answered. Neither of them wanted to hurt Kagome but it couldn't be helped. The longer it went on, the harder it would be to tell her and the pain it would cause her would be that much more.

Kikyo nodded and hugged the depressed Inu. 'She will forgive you.' She whispered into his ear and he smiled sadly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Her sent was still that of graveyard soil and clay but there was a slight edge to it that was her, her smell from when she was alive; the sent of her soul.

**xxx…xxx**

To say Sesshoumaru was confused would be an understatement. Why was his brother hurting Kagome like this? He didn't understand the stupidity of it. Sighing inwardly, he cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone in the clearing.

'Kagome; if you are still interested in my tuition then I shall give you time to pack and say your farewells. Meet me here at sunset with all you need.' And with that he turned and swiftly darted away into the forest.

Kagome watched him go and a slight smile came to her saddened face. Catching Sango's curious gaze, she blushed and looked away sheepishly causing her friends stare to intensify and the acrid smell of curiosity to seep into her nose from everyone in the clearing. Twiddling her fingers, Kagome squirmed under the look for a whole minute before she came out with the story she knew they wanted to hear.

'I asked Sesshoumaru if he would become my sensei as I'm now an inu-youki and need o learn from one of my own rather than from a half demon like Inuyasha.' She explained; eyes still on the floor as she continued to twist her fingers into her sleeve.

Takashi blinked. She was nervous about something like that? _Well, they haven't exactly been on the best of terms with the demon lord. _He thought idly to himself as he watched her kill the sleeve of her strange clothing with her claws. _If this were an anime I would so be sweat dropping right now._

It was ironic really.

Sango shook her head with a bemused smile. Kagome was acting like she had just announced that they where getting married rather than becoming sensei and student. Laughing quietly she assessed the damage the miko was doing to her uniform and concluded that she would need a new set of cloths. It would have to be a lot like a miko's outfit; the style and fabric that where made for fighting.

Walking over to her friend she settled the girls' hands and looked straight into her golden eyes. Kagome smile awkwardly before her eyes widened comically and she gasped.

'I need to pack!' she cried out in panic and laughter echoed through the group with everyone but the now frowning miko laughing enthusiastically at her panicked expression.

'Don't worry Kagome! You have plenty of time.' Miroku reassured her and she smiled gratefully at him.

'But first; you need some knew cloths.' Takashi's amused voice advised from behind her and she turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised.

'Oh?'

'Yup. You've ruined that…strange thing.' He told her, a cheeky look in his brown eyes. Kagome looked down and groaned sending another wave of mirth into the air. Mirth had a peculiar smell. It was different for each person but the undertones where the same; a perfume like smell that tickled the senses.

'Ok, I guess I do need a new set of cloths.' She agreed grumpily as Takashi chuckled. 'Know anywhere that can make one in less than a day?'

Takashi considered it for a moment before grinning and clicking his figures. 'Follow me. We'll meet back at the village later, yes?' he aimed the last bit at Sango, Shippo and Miroku and they nodded.

'Can you pack my stuff up for me please Sango?' Kagome asked and the slayer smiled.

'Of course.' She assured her friend. The miko nodded and she and Takashi ran off into the trees.

It didn't take long for the demon pair to arrive at their destination. It was a small building in the middle of a clearing and was surrounded by sweet smelling wild flowers and herbs. There was a well in the corner to the left of the house with a small bucket to the side of it that had obviously been used rather recently. A small vine of a red leaved plant climbed up the front of the small cottage giving the building a sort of creepy feeling that still, somehow, made it cosy. A small door was at the front next to a window looking into what looked like a workshop full of kimonos; fighting and otherwise.

Gulping slightly, Kagome followed Takashi as he walked down the small stone path toward the front door. As he knocked, a strange rustling could be heard as the person inside made their way to the door. It creaked as hands opened it and a small head poked round.

The demon behind the door was a short woman with long green hair and sliver slitted eyes. She was obviously a snake demon and was wearing a short fighting green and silver kimono with a sword and two knives attached to a belt on her hips. Her inquisitive eyes flickered from Takashi and Kagome before settling on the former.

'Why hello Takashi-sama. What a…pleasant surprise.' She hissed, struggling to keep her voice and face pleasant. As she spoke, Kagome noticed her long snake's tongue that flickered around her words and when the snake paused the miko became curious. Cheery as usual, Takashi grinned.

'Same to you Kimi-chan! I have to say I have missed you!' he told her cheerfully and Kagome watched as her lip curled at the familiarity used on her name.

'So what to I owe the pleasure of this visit?' she asked, still struggling with the pleasantries. It was obvious that she didn't like him but Kagome had to wonder who Takashi really was if someone who didn't like him referred to him as 'sama'.

'my friend here needs a knew fighting kimono by sunset.' He explained and the girls silted eyes narrowed and turned to look at the Inu on front of her.

'It'll cost extra.' She told him bluntly, eyes not leaving Kagome.

'Not a problem.' He replied steadily. After a last look at Kagome, Kimi lead them inside and into the relatively warm house. Being cold blooded, the snake demon had several fires in the house to keep it a temperature that would satisfy her as she worked making it a high temperature for the cold loving Takashi. He was a demon of ice and snow and was one of a kind; just like Kagura.

Snatching at a piece of rope, Kimi began measuring Kagome for her kimono. Several measurements where taken and Kagome couldn't help wondering how she managed without a tape measure.

A few minutes later and she was holding up different fabrics to see which would be the best and suite the miko best. After several minutes she decided on a deep blue and ushered them out of the house, telling them to come back just before sunset and that she would have the kimono and a couple of knife and sword belts ready for collection.

The time between then and the collection time was spent chatting in which Kagome learned that he was the son of a powerful demon, that he had the power to find anyone with just his mind and could control ice and snow therefore preferring the cold. She told him lots about herself also including her old love for Inuyasha and her knew love for his brother; Sesshoumaru.

Takashi didn't want to lie to Kagome so he kept his story as close as possible to the truth without mentioning Naraku. He was quite pleased with his near-truth invention and was happy it didn't feel so much like lying. As sunset approached the pair made their way back to the tailor's house, still chatting about random things around the way. Takashi had explained that he would pay for the kimono as Kagome had no money.

When they arrived Kimi was standing in the living room adding the final touches to a beautifully designed and decorated fighting kimono. She looked up as they walked in and gave them the first smile Kagome had seen on her face. It made the snake demon look very pretty and Kagome concluded that the girl should smile more often.

'Just finished.' She told them with a sense of relief in her voice. Handing the clothing to Kagome she pushed the young Inu into a room at the end of the hall. 'Try it on!' she cried cheerily as she closed the door and walked over to Takashi to settle the money side of things.

Kagome did as she was bid and slipped out of her uniform and into the kimono. The fabric was soft as silk but stronger and thicker giving it a lot of room to wear and tear. The skirt of the kimono went just below her knees and a pair of silver shorts that stopped above her knees and had several holders for weapons such as knives and sai. The sleeves where like any kimono's sleeves but where decorated with a pattern consisting of silver half moons and swirls. _How ironic. She must have an eye for patterns that relate to her customer. _Kagome thought dryly as she studied the design.

All in all it was a beautiful item of clothing and it fitted perfectly; Kagome was surprised it had taken Kimi less than a day to create. There was a silver sash that tied around her waist and that a sword would easily slip through and sit. As Kagome finished she opened the door and walked back into the workshop to find Takashi and Kimi exchanging money. The annoyed 'I'm at the end of my patience' look was back on the snake girl's face and Takashi was grinning widely. Kagome sweat dropped and shook her head in exasperation. Hearing Kagome walk over, the pair turned and smiled at the miko who blushed fiercely at the attention.

'Thank you Kimi-san.' She thanked the snake whose smile widened happily.

'No problem Kagome-Chan. Anytime.'

Looking out of the window at the sun, Takashi was startled at how close to sunset it was.

'We need to go.' He said urgently and, after saying a quick goodbye to Kimi, they darted out of the small house and pelted back to the village that Miroku, Sango and Shippo where currently staying. They where waiting for her and after putting her hair up in Sesshoumaru's pin, grabbing her stuff and saying a quick goodbye, she left Takashi with the other three (Inuyasha still wasn't back yet) and raced back to the clearing just before the sun set and the sky turned red.

Sesshoumaru was waiting for her when she arrived and took in her attire and hairstyle with a hard gaze before nodding slightly and walking into the forest in the opposite direction to the village with Kagome trailing after him cautiously.

**oxo…oxo**

**I hope you like it and I will be getting back to you with another chapter as soon as possible. ^_^**

**Thank you for reading and please remember to REVIEW!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope you enjoy reading this story!!!**

**oxo…oxo**

As Inuyasha burst through the trees and into the clearing an overwhelming feeling of despair rang through him as he realised he was too late. Kagome had left with Sesshoumaru.

'Damn it!' he cursed loudly as he looked around the empty clearing. Sango had said that they would be leaving at sunset and the sky had just turned a light purple signifying the end of the sunset and the beginning of nightfall. Kikyo had left a while ago as she didn't feel that the others would accept her, going back to find Naraku on her own.

Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, he walked back to the village where Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Takashi where waiting for him. Takashi had decided to travel with them as he 'didn't have anything better to do' and he 'may as well'. Inuyasha didn't like the ice demon. There was something about him that was familiar but in a bad way and he didn't know why. It was infuriating.

The Inu demon growled as he saw the white haired demon, flirting with women in the middle of town. _He's a womanizer like Miroku then? No wonder they get along so well._ He thought irritably to himself as he rounded the corner towards the Miko's hut where they where staying. It was only this morning that Kagome was lying there in agony and pain with no clue as to whether she would survive and now she was going off to train with his stupid brother. _What a day!_ He thought, clutching his head as the thoughts all washed over him.

'Ugh…' he mumbled as he staggered around before the floor caught up with him and his world turned black.

**xxx…xxx**

Absently, Kagome wondered where Sesshoumaru was going to take her. It was obvious that they would have to rest for the night but she didn't know where or when that would occur. Another thought crossed her mind and she wondered where Rin and Jaken were.

'Sesshoumaru?' she asked quietly as they ran through the bushes.

'Hmm?' he replied with a grunt, not turning round as he continued.

'Where are we going? And where's Rin and Jaken?'

Sesshoumaru stopped suddenly and turned to look at her with an emotionless gaze. Smelling the air Kagome picked up the sent of curiosity and slight annoyance but nether feeling showed on the demons face.

'They are waiting in a clearing not too far from here where we shall join them as soon as you stop asking me pointless questions.'

Kagome was affronted. His gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds more before turning back to continue on his run through the trees. Pouting, the miko followed after her cold tutor.

**xxx…xxx**

Takashi was in a good mood as he rounded the corner back to the hut; he loved mixing with the women almost as much as Miroku. The moment turned sour however as he found himself flat on his face having tripped over something he hadn't seen on the ground. Looking round he spotted the thing he had tripped over and frowned. _Why is Inuyasha taking a nap _here_ of all places?_ He grinned at the silly thought.

He knew that Inuyasha was probably unconscious for some reason but he enjoyed letting his mind wander to stupid things; it made life more fun. Getting up off the ground he pulled himself into a sitting position before gazing steadily at the unconscious Inu-Youki sprawled on the floor. Cocking his head slightly in curiosity, he moved his hand so it was placed on Inuyasha's forehead. He was feverish. Narrowing his eyes so that his frown was more profound, Takashi got up and heaved the Inu onto his back.

Tutting cheekily he began walking back towards the hut wondering what the others would say when they saw his special delivery.

**xxx…xxx**

Sango and Miroku where shocked when Takashi came thorough the door of the hut with an unconscious Inuyasha on his back.

'What happened?' the slayer asked, running from where she had been cleaning hiraikotsu and helping the ice demon lay Inuyasha on the same mat Kagome had been only that morning. It was strange how much had happened in such a short amount of time.

'I don't know. I was coming back to the hut when I tripped over him and thought it would be a good idea to bring him back. He has a high fever and his hearts beating pretty fast; I think he's in shock that Kagome left without saying goodbye.'

Suddenly, as if proving Takashi right, Inuyasha grimaced and squirmed slightly, not once opening his eyes. 'Kagome…' he murmured in a slightly forced voice. It was obvious to anyone he was in pain. Sango sighed sadly as she looked at her friend.

'This is one he will have to ride out on his own; just like Kagome.' Miroku stated grimly. _But I have to wonder; if Kagome had known that this would happen, would she have still left?_

**xxx…xxx**

Naraku smiled as he watched his latest incarnation mingle with the Inuyasha gang as he continued to gain their trust. His plan was coming together nicely. Get Takashi to do something completely random and useless then give him ideas in his brain telling him to seek out Inuyasha and join 'the side of good'. The ice demon wouldn't be able to betray him as he thought what he was doing was of his own will! It was his best plan yet! All he had to do now was to wait until he had their complete trust and then activate the final stage in his cunning plan.

Complete annihilation.

**oxo…oxo**

**Sorry that it's a bit short but I thought it best to end it like that. I'll be back with another chapter ASAP!**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of this fan fiction!!! Love to you all and cookies if you REVIEW!!!!**

_**Animeloveramy **_


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the wait but its here now!!!!**

**oxo…oxo**

Sesshoumaru and Kagome ran through the forest at speeds she had never even dreamed of. It was amazing and, though she would love to have kept going, they had had to stop when they reached the clearing that Rin and Jaken where staying. The demon lord had been quiet on their journey but she had managed to get a little out of him.

They would leave Rin and Jaken in the morning before heading to famous sword maker Totosai. Kagome remembered the demon that had forged Tetsusiaga from the time Inuyasha's great sword had broken. He had managed to make it whole again, but it had been almost impossible for Inuyasha to wield until he had learned to use his own strength instead of relying on his fathers. Kagome liked the old man, even if he was a bit of a wimp.

The night passed quickly and it was morning before she knew it. As Kagome yawned out of habit, she reviled in the fact that she no longer felt tired. It was part of being a demon that she still needed to get used to. Sesshoumaru was already up and watching her intently as she woke.

She was stunning. As a human she had definitely been pretty but as a demon she was beautiful. She looked over at him and his heart skipped a beat. Slowly, she smiled in such a way that Sesshoumaru wondered whether one of her knew skills was to read minds. This little thought made him feel vaguely uncomfortable and the smile faltered slightly before she turned away to look at the still sleeping Rin beside her.

Kagome's nose was still mixed with the scents of love, marvel and uncertainty. He had been staring at her and when she looked at him she had heard his heart stutter. _Why? _She wondered. _Why is he acting this way, he doesn't love me. I guess that's what the uncertainty was; he realised it._

Kagome watched Rin till she stirred, hearing Sesshoumaru as he walked away, taking his strong feelings with him. _For a seemingly emotionless demon lord he sure had some strong emotions. _Kagome thought wryly, marvelling in the irony of it all.

As Rin woke and looked up at the raven haired girl next to her, she smiled. She did love Kagome and she had a feeling her adoptive father did too. She was also pretty sure that Jaken had a soft spot for the girl. It was amazing what she could do; Kagome was the kind of person you just had to love no matter who you where or how you loved her, as a sibling, as a father or as a mate.

It had been that way before as well. He may not have known it but Sesshoumaru had loved her from the beginning and even more so since she had become Rin's nanny. He had spent an awful lot of time with the young miko and Rin could see the love in his eyes every time he looked at her. It was only a flash and was something no one would notice unless they where looking; which most people didn't.

The girl had been there for him in the simplest of ways that he himself hadn't even realised, but she knew now that he had accepted his feelings for her nanny and she believed it would be good for him. They just needed a push; and convincing that the other loved them back.

'Good morning Rin!' Kagome greeted cheerfully. A little too cheerfully as far as Rin was concerned but she let it slip.

'Yes! Good morning to you too Kagome!' she replied happily. She yawned slightly as she got up and raced over to Jaken to wake the little green demon whom had become her best friend.

'Jaken! Jaken! Wake up!' she cried forcefully as she shook the little demon.

'Bahhhhhh!' he cried as he fell off the tree stump he had been sitting on and grimaced as he landed on the hard floor below. Kagome and Rin both covered their mouths to try and cover their giggles. 'Oooh…' he murmured at he pulled himself up, rubbing his back where he had fallen. Rin laughed before running up to him and pulling him away towards the stream, waving goodbye at Kagome and winking at Sesshoumaru who was walking back through the trees from the direction she was running.

Slightly startled, but not showing it on the outside, he watched them leave, Jaken's feet hardly touching the ground as he whizzed passed, a look of annoyance and boredom on his face that amused the demon lord greatly. Turning back to the clearing, he saw Kagome sitting where she had been when he had left; staring at the trees with a sad smile on her face before grabbing her bag.

Kagome had sensed his presence and so thought it best to clean up and so went to get her hair brush but stopped as her fingers brushed the hairpin again. Bringing it out of her bag, she looked at it with a smile before placing it gently beside her and went back inside her bag for her brush. Brushing it through, she pulled her hair up at the back and put it into the pin like the first time and looked at herself in the mirror she had again.

Sesshoumaru watched this with wide eyes. She was wearing the hairpin. But what did that mean? Was she wearing it because it was from him or just because she liked it? Silently, he approached. She turned to look at him with an uncertain smile that took his breath away. When had he become this soft? He looked at the curls that framed her face and gave her a small smile. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked away, playing with said curls.

'Are we going to see Totosai today then?' she asked nervously, purposely changing the subject. Sesshoumaru rained in his thoughts and pushed them to the back of his mind, his cold exterior clearly showing on the outside.

'Indeed.' He answered simply in an emotionless voice. Kagome looked at him with sad eyes at his sudden change and he looked away, turning to sit under a tree and watch her as she began to pack her bag back up.

'Sesshoumaru-sama! Kagome-Chan!' Rin cried as she raced back into the clearing with Jaken panting behind her. 'Look! I found a pretty flower!' she squealed excitedly; her voice reaching a pitch that made both dog demons squirm.

'That's wonderful Rin!' Kagome told the girl; looking at the flower and marvelling in its beauty. It was a golden rose that looked as if it had been dipped in gold leaf. The miko smiled as she tucked the small flower behind he girl's ear and gently brushed the hair back in place with her fingers. 'There! Wonderful!' she told her happily as the smaller girl went off, running around the clearing in delight.

'Are you ready Kagome?' Sesshoumaru's deep voice asked as he got up.

'Indeed.' She replied, quoting him in the same cold voice he had used. He mentally winced before turning to Jaken as if nothing had happened.

'Look after Rin.' He told the demon simply before beckoning Kagome and jumping high above the trees. The miko demon smiled at Jaken and Rin before following him into the sky.

**xxx…xxx**

Inuyasha's state hadn't changed that night and Miroku was starting to get really worried. The morning passed without too much incident but in the afternoon his condition worsened.

'How is he?' Sango asked as she came into the hut. He looked at her with worried eyes.

'Bad. If he keeps going like this then I'm afraid he'll die.' Miroku told her, pain in his dark eyes. Sango bit her bottom lip nervously.

'Kagome…' came Inuyasha's strained voice as he wriggled around on the mat he was lying on. Putting his nose in the covers, he sniffed unconsciously. 'Kagome…'

'The bed still smells of her. He's been doing that allot.' Miroku explained. He hadn't left his friends side.

'Do you think it would help if she was here?' Sango asked suddenly. Miroku looked at her determined face.

'I suppose… your going after her aren't you.'

It wasn't a question. Sango looked back at him, her eyes filled with determination as she turned to pick up hiraikotsu and nodded. Miroku smiled encouragingly at her. 'Then take Takashi with you. I need to look after inuyasha and he may be able to help.' He told her. Sango nodded and smiled back as she grabbed her weapon.

'Take Takashi where?' asked the ice demon as he came through the door of the hut, a small smile on his face. Sango and Miroku turned to look at him, faces grave once again.

'We need to find Kagome or Inuyasha could die.' Sango explained and Takashi's face immediately became serious.

'He just doesn't have the strength to pull through in his despair.' Miroku told them. They nodded.

'Come on!' Sango called as she ran past Takashi with ki-la-la at her heels. The little kitten transformed just outside and Sango jumped on, quickly followed by Takashi.

'Good luck!' Miroku yelled as they took off and headed the way Kagome had been seen last. _Please get her back in time._

xxx…xxx

It took just under a day for them to get to Totosai's little cave. The sword maker welcomed them and agreed to make Kagome a sword but told her he needed a fang.

'But I can't transform. I don't have an inner demon.' She told him. She had tried more than once but it had never happened; not even the presence of an inner demon.

'Really?' he asked her, surprised at this little peace of news. Sesshoumaru was surprised as well and Kagome's nose wrinkled at the surprise in the cave.

'But I still need a fang.' The sword maker murmured; his hand on his forehead as he thought. Suddenly, he looked at Sesshoumaru, a thoughtful look on his face. The Inu raised an eyebrow at the makers gaze. 'Yes… it could work…'

'What could work?' Kagome asked curiously. Following his gaze her eyes also rested on Sesshoumaru. 'Oh!' she breathed, her eyes widening as she realised what he was thinking.

Sesshoumaru was clueless and Kagome knew it. Giggling, she turned away from the demon's accusing stare. Totosai smiled. 'I'm going to need one of your fangs Sesshoumaru-sama.' He told the demon and the Inu's other eyebrow rose causing Kagome's giggles to get harder.

'And why is that so funny?' Sesshoumaru asked, slightly disgruntled. Kagome looked at him with tears of laughter running down her cheeks.

'Your face!' she told him, struggling slightly to get the words out through her laughter. Sesshoumaru frowned slightly. _She thinks my face is funny? _His confusion just made her laugh harder. 'I haven't - laughed like – this – in ages!' she spluttered. Totosai grinned and Sesshoumaru froze before smiling slightly at the happy girl. He had made her laugh.

'Um; Sesshoumaru-sama? The fang?' the sword maker asked with a smile. The inu-youki turned to him, smile gone, and nodded. His eyes went red and the wind picked up around him as he changed into his beast form. Growing, he put his dog head down towards the old man and bared his fangs. Kagome had stopped laughing and was watching Sesshoumaru with a slight fear on her face. After all, the last time she had seen him like that he had tried to kill her.

Totosai grabbed one of his fangs and pulled. It came out easily in his arms, a new one instantly taking its place. **(I'm not sure if that's how it works but hey…)** Grumbling in the back of his throat, Sesshoumaru pulled his head up and began to change back into his human form. Kagome was quiet as the dog demon sat down next to her and the sword maker went to his forge to begin his work.

'It will be ready for you by tomorrow.' Totosai told them. 'You may stay here until then.'

Sesshoumaru nodded and looked down at Kagome whose eyes where glazed over in thought. He wondered what she was thinking about and hoped it wasn't anything to do with a new fear of him. That would be very bad indeed.

**oxo…oxo**

**Well, here it is. I hope you like it and I'm sorry for the wait. I get short bursts of ideas and then nothing, you know? It really annoying…**

**Thanks for all my reviewers and I hope you continue to review!!! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is the next chapter!**** Sorry for the wait but I am quite proud of this chapter so you may find it worth the wait. ^_^**

**oxo…oxo**

Sango and Takashi arrived at the clearing that Rin and Jaken were at nightfall. The girl offered them a sleeping place and told them where the other two had gone. There was nothing the pair could do however so they took up Rin's offer and stayed the night in the clearing.

The fire blazed brightly in the middle of the clearing as the four sat in awkward silence. Sango looked around at the others slowly as she drank her tea. Takashi was meditating with Ki-la-la curled up in his lap. They did that often and, though he was a being of ice and she of fire, they seemed to get on well together. It was a mysterious partnership.

Rin was sleeping as it was late and well past her bedtime. She was a sweet girl and Sango liked her allot. Jaken sat with his steaming tea in his hand and watched her. He was a good friend and a loyal servant if he liked you but a weary adversary if he didn't. Though people would think him incapable, he was strong when need be thanks to his staff of two heads.

Sango sipped her tea tentatively. It was probably time she slept too, so, grabbing her blanket, she went to sleep next to a tree in the clearing.

Soon the morning came and Sango woke to find that Takashi had slept in his cross legged meditation pose all night. _He's going to be stiff this morning! _She thought before blushing. _That sounded so wrong! I blame Miroku for my dirtied mind! _She mentally cursed the monk before continuing to pack up her stuff.

Takashi cracked open an eye to peak at Sango as the slayer put her blanket back into her small bag. She was a pretty girl and her hazel hair glowed in the sunlight. He smirked. Almost_ as pretty as Kagome._ He thought before slapping himself in his mind. _I am so cold! I know it's my nature but that was a horrible thing to think! _He told himself sharply, verbally adding to his mental slap.

Sighing slightly, he got up and walked the stiffness out of his limbs. 'Finally up are we?' Sango asked with a wry smile and Takashi grinned back at her.

'It would look like it wouldn't it.' He answered playfully. Sango shook her head and looked away. His grin faded slightly as he looked at the green demon glaring at him. Jaken's glare frightened him; it looked like he was looking right through him to the spider on his back. Takashi bit his lip and set about looking busy to try and stop himself pondering on it too much.

Jaken was sure he had seen Takashi before. His sent was familiar too but he couldn't place the demon and that made him worry. He never forgot a face.

**xxx…xxx**

The cold air bit at Kagome's nose as morning came. It had rained during the night, not heavily but enough to cover the land in a thin layer of water.

'I hate the rain.' Totosai grumbled as he walked across the caves unusually cold floor. 'It's a good job I got most of the sword done last night when the forge was still working.'

Kagome rolled her shoulders to stretch them before rising to her feet and walking to her bag. It was next to Sesshoumaru who was sitting against the wall not too far from where she had been sleeping and he was still asleep. His face was relaxed as he slept and his hair fell over his face giving him a rouge look he didn't usually have. Kagome smiled before picking up her back and sitting down next to him to watch him sleep.

He woke not long after to Kagome's face smiling at him. He blinked to clear his sight but otherwise made no moves to show he had just woken up. Kagome began rummaging in her bag for something and carefully pulled out the hair pin he had given her that she had taken out that night so she wouldn't damage it as she slept. Slowly, she looked up at him questioningly.

'Was this yours?' she asked and he nodded at her, surprised by her question and pleased she had kept the pin.

'It used to be my mother's and her mother's and her mother's before her.' He replied, his golden eyes gazing into her greeny ones. Kagome was the first to look away as she asked another question.

'Why?' she asked simply and by the look on her face Sesshoumaru didn't think they where talking about the pin anymore.

'Because I had to.' He replied flatly before getting up to check on Totosai, leaving Kagome deep in thought. Why? Why did he have to leave her? It didn't make sense to Kagome as she sat, trying to figure out the confusion in her brain. After minutes of this, she stopped, her brain searing from overuse. Putting a hand on her forehead, she got up and followed the lord towards the great sword maker.

He was just finishing the hilt as Kagome arrived and had slipped the sword itself into a silver sheath. It was an exquisite thing. The hilt was wrapped with three shades of blue ribbon that intertwined into a crisscross pattern and had a small silver chain coming from the end. The chain itself was slightly longer than her forearm and had a medium sized crescent moon hanging from the end.

_Beautiful…_ she thought as she stared at the sword made form Sesshoumaru's fang and soon to be hers. 'Wow.' She murmured and Totosai looked up at her, finally finished with the hilt. 'Does it have a name?' she asked, looking at the sword maker. Totosai nodded.

'Her name is Akane Yuki. It means deep red snow and while it's a beautiful name there is always a darker side to the beauty but you can figure that out as you go along and though it may not be a nice discovery, she should keep you safe as long as you treat her properly; she's a very powerful sword.' He told her as she studied it with an astonished smile. 'She's also double ended.' He went on. 'You can use the metal on the chain as a weapon as well.'

Slowly, he picked up the sword and placed it in Kagome's waiting hands. It was cold and smooth to the touch causing Kagome to shiver as she ran her fingers down the chain and held the moon in her hands. It was heavy, but not too heavy and perfectly balanced with the rest of the sword.

Cautiously, she let go of the crescent metal and wrapped her fingers around the hilt, slowly pulling the sword from its sheath. She expected a burst of magic or a flash of light or something, but nothing happened as it slid smoothly from its sheath. Another major thing that was different from her best friend's sword was that the blade on hers was a snowy white when his had always been grey. Hers was also more feminine and she loved it dearly already.

'_You need to love the sword Kagome. You can never wield it properly if you don't care about it because it will never care enough about you to bother protecting you. You can't just expect the sword to work for you with out giving something in return; your love and loyalty.'_

Her late father's words came to her as she looked at her new sword. He had loved swords and had been a master in the art of sword fighting. She had learned to train slightly with him before he had died and new the basics behind wielding a sword but nothing other than that and with nothing but a plastic toy. Suddenly, another thought ran through her head.

_This is Sesshoumaru's fang. _

The realisation made Kagome's eyes widen a fraction before she closed them and smiled knowingly. She was happy to have his fang as her sword and would treat it as such. She studied the sword again before sheathing it and smiling up at the two men in front of her. 'Thank you. Both of you.' She added, looking up at the frosty demon lord with a grin. 'It's perfect.'

Totosai smiled at her. 'Your welcome; treat it with respect now, ok?' he told her and she nodded happily, her fringe bobbing up and down with the movement. Delicately, she slipped the sword into her belt and let it rest, sitting on her hip with the chain hanging neatly by her side. She stroked the hilt lovingly before looking back up.

'What now?' she asked. Sesshoumaru looked at her with his golden eyes before looking away again and answering.

'Now it's time to train. We will need to go back to Rin and Jaken and can go on from there. On the way you will run you're fastest for as long as you can to see what speed and stamina you have and what we can do with it.'

Kagome nodded sharply before bowing to Totosai and following Sesshoumaru out into the forest.

'Love really is blind.' The old sword maker commented as he watched the pair sprint into the distance with a wistful smile on his face.

**xxx…xxx**

Sango and Takashi flew over the trees towards Totosai's cave, looking down to see if Kagome and Sesshoumaru were coming back.

'You're really skinny.' Takashi murmured in frustration as he tried to get a proper grip around her waist. Sango blinked in surprise. _Was that a compliment or an insult? _She wondered absently before continuing to watch the ground.

'Sango?'

Came a voice from the ground and Ki-la-la stopped. Sango and Takashi looked down at where the familiar voice had come from and saw a girl with raven hair looking up at them from the top of a tree, the highlights in her hair glistening.

'Kagome!' Sango called back in delightful relief before urging Ki-la-la to the ground. When down, she spotted the cold looking demon lord. He watched them grumpily as they walked over to Kagome; whom had gotten out of the tree.

'Where's Miroku? And Inuyasha?' she asked in confusion. Sango and Takashi exchanged a worried look and Kagome's brow furrowed. She could smell the tension that hung heavily in the air and she didn't like it one bit. 'What's going on guys?' she asked again, her voice urgent. Sango sighed.

'He's ill. We think it's because he's been worrying about you so much and about the fact that you left without saying goodbye. He collapsed and has gotten a fever. We needed to find you to see whether your presence would help him.' She explained to the stunned Kagome. The demon miko had tears in her eyes as she thought about her friend but she refused to let them fall. When she was sure they where contained, she turned to look at Sesshoumaru; a pleading look in her eyes.

The look cut the stoic demon lord like a red hot sword. Though he knew there was no way he would be able to refuse her unspoken request, he took a long time before nodding; to try and maintain any of the reputation he had left. Kagome smiled gratefully before a determined look came to her face and she nodded to Sango who smiled at her friend with new gratitude. Takashi grinned before following Sango to Ki-la-la.

'Thank you Sesshoumaru.' Kagome whispered, loud enough that he could hear her but no one else could. He smiled slightly before propelling himself into the trees after the already airborne fire neko.

**oxo****…oxo**

**Thank you for reading my story you amazing people!!!!! You are all awesome! (Except for a certain someone called Tom if he's reading this. Recognise the end? It the bit you read in physics, REMEMBER?!) **

**But yes, thank you all for supporting me throughout and I shall try to finish it off soon so that you can all find out what happens at the end!**

**And remember, REVIEW!!!!!!**


	12. Chapter 12

'_**Total eclipse of the heart…'**_

**oxo…oxo**

Kagome leapt from tree to tree as fast as she could (which she found, surprisingly, was very fast), sprinting towards the village Inuyasha was in. Thoughts where racing through her head as she crashed through the smaller branches of a rather large oak and as she stopped suddenly, face to face with a pair of ruby red eyes. Her own eyes widened considerably before she was thrown back, hitting the trunk of the tree she had just mutilated.

She gasped as the air in her lungs escaped her and reflected that this was probably the tree's payback for her demolishing it earlier. She made a silent pact not to hurt any more trees in future.

Quickly, she dodged as the rouge wolf demon came at her, claws bared as she slashed at the Inu. Kagome hissed as she continued to doge attacks with a skill she never knew she possessed. Suddenly, a sword cut clean through the demon's neck; severing her head from her shoulders, a surprised look on her face. Kagome looked into Sesshoumaru's fierce eyes and smiled in relief.

'Thanks.' She breathed gratefully and he nodded, sheathing Tokijin before continuing through the trees. It didn't take them much longer to reach the town and, due to the attack, Ki-l-la and her passengers had arrived first, deciding to wait in the hut for their demon friend.

As the pair arrived, Kagome sprinted towards the hut with Sesshoumaru following her at a slightly slower pace. She breezed hurriedly through the door and spared a glance and nod for Miroku and the rest before she looked down at her best friend, unconscious on the floor. Her heart ached for him as she kneeled down beside his bed and placed a hand to his face, brushing the hair from his closed eyes.

Sesshoumaru watched from the doorway as Kagome caressed his brother's cheek. She seemed so calm but Sesshoumaru could see the slight tremble of her fingers and his eyebrows lowered slightly in his concern making a hardly visible frown.

'Inuyasha?' Kagome asked as her fingers brushed the hanyou's eye lids. He smiled slightly before shifting in his sleep to a slightly more relaxed position. Kagome smiled slightly; he was so cute when he slept, so different from and yet so like his brother.

'I'm so sorry Kagome.' He whispered, his voice hoarse from disuse but strangely happy and relaxed if not a bit guilty. A relived sigh went round the room and smiles filled people's faces as Kagome leaned down to kiss him softly on the cheek. _Goodbye Inuyasha. _She thought sorrowfully yet strangely happy at the same time. _I have a new lover now; if I can ever work him out. _

Sesshoumaru looked away sadly. _She still loves my brother. After everything he's put her through. _He thought quietly to himself and he watched as Kagome looked round at him, a blank look on her face; as if she where pondering something. But the look didn't last long before her face became grim and she looked back at the hanyou.

'He's going to need some rest to fully recover but I think he's going to be ok.' Midriko stated with a smile. Kagome beemed at her with a smile that was a little too cheery before turning to look back at Sesshoumaru.

'Do you think we could train here until Inuyasha recovers?' she asked him and he sighed sadly inside before looking around the hut at the many people inside. He then turned to look back at Kagome's worried expression.

'Indeed, but I shall not stay here. Meet me tomorrow at dawn.' He told the young Inu-miko before vanishing from the door and running quickly from the village. Kagome smiled sadly before turning back to sit next to Inuyasha's resting form.

'So Kagome.' Miroku started and the demon turned to look at him. 'What did you do in your short time away?' Kagome smiled.

'We went to see Totosai to get me a sword.'

'Really?' Shippo chided questioningly. 'Can we see it?' He asked, jumping up and down in excitement. Kagome smiled at the happy kitsune.

'Sure.' She said before pulling the sword from its sheath and holding it out for all to see.

'Wow Kagome!' Sango breathed as she studied the beautiful sword. 'It's beautiful… is it your fang?' she asked, looking up at Kagome who blushed slightly.

'No, I don't even have a beast. It's Sesshoumaru's fang.' She told them, blush deepening as they all stared at her.

'You don't have a beast?' Miroku asked and Kagome shook her head. 'Interesting.' He murmured quietly before falling silent, a look of concentration on his face.

Thinking of the demon who had loaned her his fang made her sad. The look he had given her and the feelings she had smelled made her worry and she wasn't quite sure why. All she knew was that he had, had some sort of revelation, it had made him sad and it had happened just after she had kissed Inuyasha on the cheek.

**xxx…xxx**

The next day came quickly for Kagome and it was barely morning when she set out to find Sesshoumaru. She found him sleeping against a tree with Rin and Jaken beside him in the clearing. She smiled. It was a cute sight really and Kagome still marvelled at the demon lord's beauty as he slept.

'Kagome!' Rin cried loudly causing the miko to jump before shushing her hurriedly. Her heart beat was loud as she tried to regain calm after being startled. Had she been watching Sesshoumaru that intently she hadn't noticed the girl wake? Rin giggled quietly before getting up from where she had been sleeping, yawning and running over to her friend. Kagome grinned as the little girl hugged her. She was so cute.

Suddenly, the scent of Sesshoumaru's surprise, happiness and sadness filled her nose and she looked up to see him watching her with his brilliant golden eyes. She smiled tentatively at him and the edges of his lips curved; only enough to be seen if you where looking, but his eyes told a different story. One of loneliness and despair.

'Morning Sesshoumaru.' Kagome greeted, bowing her head slightly as he stood. Rin turned to beam at her father figure.

'Sesshoumaru-sama!' the girl cried before running back over to him, dragging Kagome behind her. _How on earth can she be s excitable this early in the morning?_ Kagome thought as she watched the happy little girl laugh.

'Good morning.' He replied in his usual deep voice. The greeting flowed through Kagome as she watched him. He wasn't making eye contact and it was making her uncomfortable. 'Rin; stay with Jaken.' He instructed the girl before he jumped into the trees and began running. Kagome waved at Rin before following him silently through the trees.

He led them to another clearing a little further from the village. It was fairly big and had a small stream running though the middle. When they landed, he turned to look at her, an emotionless expression fixed upon his face.

'Do you have any powers yet?' he asked her curtly and Kagome looked up at him, a little surprised at his tone.

'I think so…' she started and Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow in impatient question. She suddenly felt slightly scared of the demon in front of her. He obviously wasn't in a good mood and seemed to be direction his annoyance on to Kagome.

'Well, I can smell people's emotions if that counts?' she asked timidly and smelt the dog demon's surprise and understanding. 'Like now, you're surprised and have realised something but your facial features haven't changed. You're also in a very bad mood.' She explained, gaining courage from his emotions.

Sesshoumaru stared at her blankly. So all this time she had been able to tell his emotions. So that's what all the knowing looks where about and that time with inuyasha she had known he was jealous. _Well that certainty explains allot…_ he thought dimly. _And she's picked up on my bad mood. I wonder if she knows the reasons behind the emotions._ And he asked her so.

'No.' she told him. 'I have no idea.' _But I don't like it._ Her thoughts continued as she stared at the demon she loved.

'Ok. What do you know about wielding sword?' he asked and she looked thoughtful before she gave a physical answer. Drawing her sword swiftly, she swung it as though to cut off his head. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened a fraction before he drew his own sword and blocked her quickly. The force of her attack caused his feet to slide slightly on the dusty floor and before he had time to properly recover, she had spun and aimed her sword so it would hit him on the other side at his hip. Sesshoumaru leapt into the air to dodge before making his own attack, pointing his sword at Kagome as he plummeted towards her.

She looked up, her emotionless gaze fixed on his eyes and Sesshoumaru found he could not look away as she raised her sword above her head with one hand as if to block his strike but, before it hit, the chain from her hilt had whipped into the air and wrapped itself around his arm. She pulled it fiercely and he came crashing down to the ground sending a dust cloud out in a huge puff of brown making it impossible to see. She waited, but when the dust had cleared, he was gone. Looking around franticly she gasped as the cold blade of a sword stroked the back of her neck gently. She smiled in defeat. She hadn't really expected to beat him but she had at least pushed him back and that was definitely a good start.

'You got me.' She said softly and smiled wider as she heard his deep chuckles. _Well, it got rid of his bad mood. That's a plus._ She thought as he removed Tokijin from her neck and sheathed it.

'You have some experience.' He said. It was not a question but Kagome nodded anyway turning to look at her sensei.

'My father taught me the basics when I was younger and I kind of trained myself after he died. He loved swords and was a master at fighting with many weapons but he always seemed to proffer his sword.' She explained as she looked up at him with a small smile.

Sesshoumaru nodded. She was very good already. He hadn't been pushed back in a while and it made him slightly uncomfortable that she had done it on her first try. _I never saw that chain coming! How did she learn to use it so well so fast? _He wondered thoughtfully. He would need to study her fighting technique.

'Lets go again.' He said, this time drawing Tenseiga so not to hurt her unintentionally. She nodded and her eyes followed his hand as he lunged and she dodged as the duel started again.

**xxx…xxx**

Inuyasha woke a few days after Kagome and Sesshoumaru had arrived and the first thing he had asked had been 'where is Kagome?'

'She's having lessons with Sesshoumaru right now but she should be back soon.' Takashi had answered. That had been an hour ago and Kagome was now walking toward the hut, still expecting Inuyasha to be asleep. She was therefore surprised to see him sitting up and talking animatedly to Miroku as if he had never been I'll.

'Inuyasha!' she said in surprise and the two turned to look at her, smiles appearing on both their faces.

'Kagome!' Inuyasha replied, getting up and wobbling slightly before walking over to her and hugging her. 'I'm so sorry.' He told her and her eyes narrowed in sadness before she hugged him back. 'Can we talk somewhere else? There's something I have to tell you.' He asked nervously and Kagome nodded, smiling at Miroku before leading her friend out of the hut and to the clearing that she and Sesshoumaru sparred.

She sat on the grass and Inuyasha sat in front of her. 'You're feeling better then?' she asked and he nodded.

'Yes thanks.'

Kagome nodded. 'So what was it you wanted to say?' she asked. Inuyasha moved uncomfortably in his seat. Kagome new what was coming and knew that it had to be said if they where ever going to move on.

'Well… you see… I do love you; only, it's not in the way you want me to. I'm really sorry but I only see you as a sister, not a lover.' He told her, a look of pure guilt upon his face. Kagome wrinkled her nose at the stench before smiling sadly.

'I know.' She said sadly. 'You love Kikyo, don't you.' She continued, looking up into his pain filled eyes. It was killing him to do this, that she could see but he nodded all the same. Kagome smiled and reached over to hug him. 'The thing is inuyasha, is that I don't love you as a lover either. I may have once but now… now I have a new love.' She whispered into his ear, a faraway look in her eyes as she thought about the demon lord.

Inuyasha's eyes widened as he pushed her away from him and held her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. 'Really?' he asked. She nodded and he sighed, relief flowing through him. 'I would have hated hurting you Kagome.' He said, smiling. She smiled back with a teasing look before getting up and walking three paces backwards and breathing in. Inuyasha watched her nervously before realizing what she was doing but it was too late.

'Sit boy.' She said softly and a resounding thwack could be heard as Inuyasha's face hit the ground; hard. Kagome chuckled as he groaned, trying to pick himself up off the floor. 'No hard feelings, right Inuyasha?' she asked, a devious grin on her face. The hanyou growled as he looked up at his friend.

'Oh yeah? Well I have some hard feelings for ya!' he murmured as he got up, dirt falling from his hair in clumps. Kagome laughed before dancing out of swiping distance. A few more chuckles and she sobered up, turning to him with a serious look on her face.

'Hey, Inuyasha…' she asked quietly. Inuyasha stopped and looked at her curiously.

'Yeah?' he asked her.

'I've been thinking… I can't live in my time as a demon, can I?' she asked and Inuyasha's face became grim.

'No. no you can't.' He replied quietly. Kagome looked away sadly.

'Then I should say goodbye now.' She decided. 'I want to be able to say goodbye and so if I say goodbye now so that if I die they don't have to know; they can still believe that I'm alive.'

'Are you sure?' Inuyasha asked softly and she looked into his eyes before nodding.

'Will you come with me?' she asked. Inuyasha smiled at the silly question.

'Course stupid.' He told her and she smiled her thanks before heading back to the village.

**oxo…oxo**

**I hope you like this chapter.**

**I think it's quite an important one. **

**I also realised that I hadn't put anything from her own time in yet so here it is. **

**I apologise for the cliff-hanger and please remember to REVWIEW!!!!!!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13! Wow!**

**Wait… unlucky number… =**S

'_**A sword is not a weapon for a man; it is the essence of a true warrior.' **_

**oxo…oxo**

Edo was a two day run away from where they where currently situated and it turned out that everyone was coming including Takashi (who seemed to have joined there little party) and Sesshoumaru's group. Rin and Jaken where to ride Ah-Un alongside Sango, Miroku and Shippo riding Ki-la-la while Sesshoumaru would run with Inuyasha, Takashi and Kagome. It was an elaborate idea and they where to set out in the morn. Kagome hoped that Inuyasha would be able to not fight with Sesshoumaru for a whole two days. _Not a chance in hell._ She decided in exasperation.

She was right. It took Inuyasha a couple of minutes before he found something to complain about and after three hours of Inuyasha's constant whining she had had enough.

'SIT!' she cried loudly as the hanyou muttered something about his brother's hair. He hit the ground with a yelp.

'Kagome!' he yelled as she ran past him. Sesshoumaru and Takashi sniggered and carried on behind Kagome; leaving Inuyasha to pick himself up and carry on. This time he lasted a little longer. Half an hour to be exact and Kagome sat him immediately. This routine went on the whole day and part of the night before Inuyasha finally learnt not to complain. Needless to say the second day of the journey went allot smoother than the first.

They reached Edo in good spirits at nightfall. They stayed the night in a clearing knowing it would be rude for this many people and demons to impose on Kaede. In the morning, they split; Inuyasha and Kagome heading for the well, Sango, Ki-la-la Shippo, Miroku and Takashi heading to the village and Sesshoumaru, Ah-Un, Rin and Jaken stayed in the clearing.

Sesshoumaru was sad to watch Kagome go with his brother, but he understood that they where going to a place that he could not follow. All the same, it made his blood boil.

Inuyasha went through the well first and Kagome followed, smiling as the familiar magic caught her and took her home.

**xxx…xxx**

'It would seem our little miko has gone home.' Naraku said randomly, to no one in particular. Kagura bowed and his eyes followed her movement.

'What do you wish me to do?' she asked as politely as she could. Naraku smirked evilly.

'My plan involves strategy and secrecy. If they hear nothing from me they will slowly become suspicious. We can't have that now can we.' He said in his monotone voice. His ruby eyes scanned the room, creeping over Kagura like a spider. _I suppose it fits._ She thought idly as she waited for his instruction. 'I want you to cause some chaos. You can do that cant you.' He asked mockingly and she nodded, ignoring the cold fury building up inside her.

Slowly, she turned to leave. 'And Kagura.' She stopped as she heard his voice and he continued. 'Wait until the young miko gets back. I want to test her newfound strength.' He ordered.

'Yes sir.' She replied before gripping her fan tightly and walking from the room.

**xxx…xxx**

Kagome climbed out of the well swiftly, tail brushing against the hard wood. The pair made their way quietly towards the house and trough the door.

'Kagome!' her mother cried in delight before engulfing her daughter in a hug.

'Mum! I can't breath!' the miko gasped and her mum let go. It was her turn to gasp as she took in Kagome's cloths and appearance.

'What happened Kagome?' she asked in a worried tone and Kagome sighed.

'Mum, I need to talk to all of you together.' She said and her mother nodded, understanding that this was serious. Not long after, Kagome and Inuyasha where sitting in front of a confused and worried Souta, grandpa and mum telling them the entire story from when she turned to her final decision.

'I'm going to stay in the feudal era.' Kagome told them sadly. 'I think its best.' They looked at her sadly and she could smell the mixture of emotion in the air. It wasn't a pleasant cocktail. Suddenly, her mother smiled.

'I understand Kagome. This is something you need to do.' She said before getting up to hug her daughter. Kagome hugged her back as tears spilled from her eyes. 'Come, I'll help you pack.' Her mother said softly as she led Kagome to her room. Inuyasha smiled and left them to it. They needed some time to say goodbye.

For the first five minutes they packed in silence picking up random things and placing them into her backpack. As her mother rummaged through the crisp wrappers and scraps of paper in one of the pockets, her fingers came across something cool and metallic. Slowly and carefully, she lifted it out, being sure not to break it in any way. Hearing her mothers pause in work, Kagome looked round and her eyes widened as she saw her mother looking at the sapphire pin Sesshoumaru had given her. Her mum looked up at the miko with round eyes.

'Where did you get this?' she breathed. Kagome gulped silently.

'It was a gift.' She said, rocking backwards onto her heels in nervousness, her hands clasped behind her back. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her behaviour.

'Kagome do you like someone?' she asked bluntly and Kagome flushed and looked away, confirming her suspicions. The black haired woman grinned, loving the chance to tease her daughter. 'Is it Inuyasha?' she asked playfully. Kagome shook her head. 'Oh? So what's his name?' she asked again, more playful this time. Kagome flushed brighter, knowing full well that Inuyasha could hear every word of this embarrassing conversation.

'Wait a moment mum.' She said before tuning to look at the door. 'Inuyasha!' she cried and she heard his wine as he tensed for a sit. It didn't come. 'Go for a run please! And make sure it's out of earshot!' She told him, a slight threat to her voice as she said the last line and she listened as he huffed before getting up, making his excuses and running out the house. When she was sure he was far enough away she turned beck to her mother who was watching her with a confused look. 'He doesn't know it's his brother I like.' Kagome explained with a sigh and her mother squealed slightly before hugging her daughter. 'Mum!' she complained half-heartedly as she pushed her mother from her.

'I'm sorry Kagome; it's just that I'm so happy for you! Did he give you this? What's his name? What's he like? Is he cute?' she asked excitedly. _She's like a rabid fan girl! _Kagome thought with a smile. Laughing slightly at her mothers antics she decided to tell her.

'His name's Sesshoumaru, yes he did give me that, he's quite narcissistic and stoic but a nice guy at heart and I wouldn't say cute, more drop dead gorgeous.' She concluded with a far away smile as her mother hugged her again.

'Well I'm glad you found someone to look after you.' She said quietly into her daughters ear and Kagome sighed softly.

'But I don't think he likes me that way mum.' She told the woman hugging her and the hug tightened.

'I expect he does; he just might not know it yet.' She replied and Kagome felt herself smiling again as she hugged her mother back fiercely.

'I'm going to miss you mum.' She said sadly, tears falling again as she squeezed her mother tight.

'I'm going to miss you too darling.' She replied as they stood there, each with silent tears falling softly down their rosy cheeks.

**xxx…xxx**

They only stayed one night and in the morning it was time for Kagome to say her final goodbyes. The frosty wind bit at her cheeks as she stood outside the well house and her pale skin glowed in the early morning light. She could feel the soft fur on her tail brushing against her legs as it swayed in the wind. She had never really used her tail and she flicked it sharply in experimentation. It was a weird feeling, but one she liked.

Inuyasha sat on his haunches and watched as Kagome flicked her tail. He smiled wryly as she fought to keep a smile from her face. Soon her tail was swaying absently from side to side and a small, happy smile was hiding badly on her face. Inuyasha sniggered slightly before straightening up and walking up to her. Gently placing a hand on her arm, he turned her toward him.

'It's time to go Kagome.' He told her softly and she nodded before slowly looking back at her family.

'I'm really going to miss you.' She said as she hugged each of her family, finishing with her mum. 'I love you mum.' She said quietly. Her mother had tears streaking down her cheeks and a smile on her face.

'I love you to.' she replied. 'I'm sure you will do well and that you will win the man you love.' She told her demon daughter. Kagome smiled and nodded before turning with Inuyasha to the well house. As she walked down the wooden stairs a wave of pure sadness took her and it took all of her might not to turn back and change the smell of sorrow to one of happiness. Only the thought of Sesshoumaru made her continue toward the well.

When she made it to the well, she turned to wave at her brother, mother and grandfather before lifting herself into the air and jumping down the well. As she felt the magic catch her, a single tear ran down her face and her world turned black.

**oxo…oxo**

**I'm sorry that it's a bit short but there should be more quite soon.**

**Thanks for all the people reading this story and even more for the people who have reviewed. I hope you all like this story but I think its coming to an end. The end will be hard to write though so it may not be as quick as some of the other chapters.**

**Please! REVIEW!!!! **


	14. Chapter 14

'_**True love is god's immortal gift.' **_

**oxo…oxo**

Sesshoumaru looked up sharply as Inuyasha and Kagome walked heavily into the clearing. The rest of their odd gang had arrived a little earlier, deciding to stay in the clearing rather than to impose on the villagers without proper cause.

It was dusk and a fire was blazing brightly in the centre of the group, casting its happy light out onto the not so happy faces of the pair walking towards it.

'How did it go?' Sango asked gently, understanding the sensitivity of the subject and acting as such. Kagome smiled falsely at her and all eyes new that she was upset. Sesshoumaru, for his part, had smelled the pair as they had arrived that morning. They had spent allot of time next to the well and the salty scent of tears had hung heavily in the air for most of the afternoon.

'I think it went well. Kagome just needs to get used to it is all.' Inuyasha told them with a sad smile tugging at his lips as he watched his friend's tail sway. She seemed to do that when she was sad and it obviously helped as her smile became slightly less false. Takashi had noticed this too and was grinning slightly.

Suddenly, Inuyasha turned his head skywards and the grin faltered on Takashi's face as they both smelt who was speeding towards them. Sesshoumaru grunted before looking the same way as Inuyasha.

'What is it?' Miroku asked but before any of them could answer, they didn't need to. Kagura landed quietly at the edge of the clearing with a frown on her face, eyes set on Kagome.

_So this is what the Naraku smell smells like._ The miko thought as she sniffed Kagura. The wind sorceress was staring at her intensely and it made her feel a little disconcerted. _Does she want to fight me or something?_

'What do _you _want Kagura?' Inuyasha yelled, pulling Tetsusiaga from its sheath and pointed it at the demon he was yelling at. Her ruby eyes roamed him before scanning the rest of the group and fixing back onto Kagome. _I'm sorry Kagome. You don't need this now._ She thought as she raised her fan and let a little bit of her apology show in her eyes. Kagome nodded slightly at her. To anyone else she could have been confirming a suspicion she had but Kagura new it was more than that and was silently grateful for the miko's kind heart.

'_Dance of the dragon!_' she cried before bringing her fan beck down in front of her and watching as Kagome dodged the large silver blades of wind that flew from her fan. The Inu gritted her teeth as she skilfully dodged the first few blades before drawing her sword and blocking the last. Kagura watched as her wind blade crashed into Kagome's new katana before her wind shattered against the white blade, the wind blowing out in all directions.

Kagome had a determined expression on her face as she stared hard into her opponent's eyes. 'Kagome!' Inuyasha exclaimed, moving as if to aid her before being stopped by Sesshoumaru's warning hand. The hanyou looked up at him in a mixture of disgust and confusion but his brother was watching the fight and didn't turn toward him.

'Let it be; it is her fight. She is stronger than you give her credit for.' He said plainly, not looking at the others but instead watching Kagome as she faced Kagura coolly, waiting for her to strike. He hoped he was right. There was a tiny bit of worry and doubt in his thoughts that he new she would be able to sense. This was likely to affect her fighting skills so, against better judgement, he put out more feelings. Ones of belief, pride, apology and love. He just hoped it would help and that it wouldn't end up making a fool of himself.

Kagome smiled as Sesshoumaru's feelings reached her. She knew that the mixture contained doubt but mixed with the others she felt confident and, somehow, she realised that this was the Inu-youki's aim. Gratefulness for the demon lord filled her being as she watched Kagura raise her tasselled fan again and more of the silver blades shot from it. She dodged again but this time, she decided to experiment a bit. Using the half moon at the end of the chain, she caught one of Kagura's wind blades and swung it around herself so that flew back in the direction of the startled wind sorceress. Kagura's eyes widened considerably as she watched her own attack pelting towards her. Quickly, she jumped, just dodging it in time and watching with wide eyes as it smashed into the tree behind her. It was a rather large oak and Kagome winced as it fell, crashing into the ground with a resounding thud. _There goes my pledge not to hurt any more trees._ She thought dryly.

_Outstanding!_ Kagura thought in amazement and worry. _Not only did she turn my wind blade back on me, she increased its speed by at least 3 times!_

The sorceress was dumbstruck. No one had been able to do that before and she was a tad weary. _I think it might be time to leave._ She reasoned quietly before nodding at Kagome, who grinned, and enlarging one of her feathers. Hopping onto it, she took one last look at the group, eyes lingering on a certain male dog demon, before flying quickly away.

Takashi slowly returned from his panic. If Kagura had wanted, she could have destroyed everything he had going here, but she hadn't even looked at it. It was really rather confusing. Why would Kagura stay silent like that. When he had smelt her coming he had been sure she was coming to rat him out but no. she hadn't said a word. Takashi's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched the dot that had been Kagura disappear into the clouds. Just what was Naraku up to?

Kagome let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding as she watched Kagura fly away. Turning slowly, she looked back at her friends, the light of victory shining in her eyes. The sight she saw not only surprised her, but pleased her as well; Sesshoumaru was smiling and it wasn't just a tug of the lips either, it was a full blown smile. Kagome breathed in sharply as her eyes met his and she was locked in limbo before her lips smiled back at him.

'That was brilliant Kagome!' Inuyasha breathed loudly and the moment was gone, the smile all but a memory as Sesshoumaru's features returned to his usual, if not more confused, frown. Kagome blinked as she arrived back on earth. Turning to Inuyasha she grinned.

'Thanks! I was rather pleased myself!' she buzzed. _It kinda cheered me up to. _She thought thoughtfully._ Weird…_

Sesshoumaru was busy wondering what had come over him. He had never smiled like that before, well, maybe when he was a child but never since. And yet, it had just happened. No thinking involved. She had just turned and he had smiled. He felt so proud of her but wasn't sure whether it was just because she was his student, or if he really did love her that much.

Sango watched quietly as Sesshoumaru walked away from the others and sat silently in a corner. Jaken was watching too and the watchers shared a look before returning their eyes to the Youki. He looked so sad, even with that bored expression, there was something in his eyes, some sadness that couldn't be described in words and as Sango followed his eyes she realised, without too much surprise, that he was staring at Kagome as she and Inuyasha laughed happily.

**xxx…xxx**

Later that night, after most where asleep, Sango walked gingerly towards where Sesshoumaru was sitting. His eyes where open and they watched curiously as the slayer came to sit by him. 'May I ask you something Sesshoumaru-sama? Something personal?' she asked after a few minutes of silence. The demons eyes narrowed and his ears probed for anyone who may have been awake before he nodded slightly at Sango. The girl breathed a small sigh before looking straight into his eyes. 'Do you love Kagome?' she asked and watched as the lord's eyes widened comically.

The question was so surprising and unexpected to Sesshoumaru that he didn't answer for several minutes but when he did speak; his voice was clear and unwavering. 'I do not know why that is any of your concern.' He stated sharply and Sango gulped before looking away.

'I'm sorry if I offended you or anything but I do believe it is my concern as I am Kagome's friend and want what's best for her. At the moment that could be you; but she's confused. It seems you are giving out mixed messages.' She told the demon bravely, looking back up at him with sad but determined eyes as she finished. Sesshoumaru sighed.

'I do not wish to speak of this.' He said quietly. He seemed withdrawn and tired and Sango suddenly felt a pang of pity for the creature sitting beside her.

'Ok then.' She started, getting up onto her feet and turning away. 'But know that Kagome doesn't love Inuyasha anymore. She would tell you that herself if you had the guts to ask her.' She stated before walking smoothly into the forest and towards the stream.

Sesshoumaru sat in silent confusion for many minutes, his head reeling. He was up late that night and as he heard Sango gently drift off to sleep, he sighed and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long night and his brain was so confused. What did the slayer mean when she said that Kagome would tell her if he asked? Did she want him to ask? It seemed so. And how dare she accuse him of having no…guts? Confusing thoughts clouded his mind until it was too foggy to think anymore and he fell heavily into a dreamless sleep.

**xxx…xxx**

The sky in the morning was a deep red and Kagome looked at it worriedly. 'Red sky at night, Sheppard's delight; red sky in the morning, Sheppard's warning.' She murmured quietly under her breath as the old saying came to her. The demons looked at her curiously and she blushed. 'It's an old saying from where I used to live.' She explained as she picked up her yellow backpack and hauled it over her shoulder. She had decided to wear the hairpin today. Her mother was rooting for her, that she new and the thought filled her with confidence as she smiled into the bloodied sky. 'Hey Sesshoumaru?' she asked carefully. He turned to her, a blank look upon his face.

'Yes?' he asked back tonelessly. Inside he was wondering what it was she could possibly want this early in the morning.

'Are we going to have a lesson today?' she asked, voice filled with hope as she watched the demon watch her. He contemplated the idea thoroughly before coming to a decision.

'Yes. I believe it would be an idea to have a few days of training in the mountains.' He stated. Kagome blinked.

'What? All of us?'

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes before shaking his head. 'No, just us.' He answered slowly. 'It would take too long with all of us.'

Kagome nodded thoughtfully as she considered his idea. 'So you want to leave today?' she asked. He nodded. 'Ok…'she said, her head bobbing up and down slowly as she spoke. 'Sure. It could be fun.'

Sesshoumaru just nodded before moving toward the tree where Rin and Jaken where sitting chatting. Kagome looked at her friends as they argued over which way they where going to head. _More goodbyes. At least this isn't for long I suppose…_she thought idly before walking over totell them she was leaving.

'What?' Inuyasha yelled angrily at Kagome's words.

'It's only going to be a few days and we can easily catch up with you after. Besides, you need to look after Rin and Jaken. Sango?' she asked and her friend smiled before nodding.

'I will not let any harm to come to either of them.' She promised her friend. 'I hope you learn allot on your trip.' She then said, a knowing glint in her eyes that Kagome was slightly weary of. She gave the slayer an uneasy smile before turning back to the still fuming hanyou.

'Oh come on Inuyasha! I was going to be gone anyway so what the problem with it now?' she asked, annoyance slowly seeping into her voice and being. Inuyasha looked away with a small grunt, his annoyance being covered by embarrassment at being out smarted. Kagome waited patiently for an answer but, when she didn't get one, she stormed off towards the trees where Rin was sitting. Inuyasha watched her go with a slightly abashed look on his face. _She just left! With out a fight!_ He thought in surprise as he young female sat beside the little girl and began to chat with her. They where talking about Sesshoumaru and 'how Kagome should make sure he slept 'cause he sometimes skipped his rest'. Inuyasha grunted slightly before looking away.

'Come on Inuyasha! You don't want this to end up like last time do you?' Takashi asked with a small smile. Inuyasha grunted again before glancing back at the miko. The ice demon smirked and, before the Inu knew it, had pushed Inuyasha towards Kagome. Inuyasha yelped in surprise as he landed on the ground, causing everyone to fall silent and look at him. Kagome rolled her eyes slightly before turning back to Rin. Inuyasha growled as he pushed himself up and scowled at the whistling Takashi. Growling again in annoyance, he got up and walked over to where Kagome was sitting. Rin was the first to look over at him as he approached, a smile playing at her lips. _What the hell is she smiling about?_ He wondered as the girl's eyes sparkled and Kagome looked up, a blank expression on her weary face.

Inuyasha gulped. That look got him every time but he continued forward, determined to make immense. Sesshoumaru watched the scene with mid interest as his brother seemed to battle with the air as he trudged slowly to where Kagome and Rin where sitting. _Stay away from those girls inuyasha._ His mind thought treacherously _there MINE!_

He mentally slapped himself before watching the scene again.

Kagome's eyes flicked to Sesshoumaru for a moment before flicking back to the hanyou before her. She had detected a strange feeling of protectiveness for a moment before it had vanished, seemingly into thin air. Concentrating back on Inuyasha, she watched with mild amusement as he seemed to wade through think mud to get to her. It was a strange sight to say the least. Gasping slightly as he made it, he bowed his head low. Kagome's eyes widened slightly.

'I am sorry. I do not wish to part on these bad terms.' He mumbled through his hair. Kagome was shocked. _When did Inuyasha learn to speak like that? For a moment he almost sounded like Sesshoumaru!_ Her head screamed as she tried to grasp what had just happened. _And he apologised…! Maybe I should say something back to that… _she thought suddenly, putting her brain onto auto drive to try and get the words out.

'Inuyasha? Did…did you just… apologise?' she asked. The hanyou's head came up quickly and he nodded. The group was staring at him. Shippo's eyes where wide and his mouth was open slightly, Sango was watching Inuyasha with a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face, Miroku was looking at him in surprise and Takashi had a huge grin upon his face. It was safe to say most of them where stunned. Kagome didn't even have the mental ability to process the smell at the moment as she tried desperately to comprehend the meaning of his sudden change in attitude.

A smile twitched on Inuyasha's face as he studied the dumbstruck look on his friend's. _Did that surprise her or what?! _He thought triumphantly before chuckling slightly. Whether it was the chuckles or the smell of triumph, Kagome didn't know, but something brought her out of her stupor and she shook her head quickly to clear it before frowning, a blush growing on her face.

'Sit!' she yelled angrily and the hanyou yelped once again before smacking into the earthen floor loudly. He groaned before looking into the miko's frustrated faced and grinning nervously. Kagome shook her head in annoyance before smiling slightly. She could never stay truly mad at Inuyasha for long.

'Baka.' She said softly as he got to his feet. 'You truly are an idiot.'

Inuyasha grunted in slight embarrassment before turning back to where the others in their gang stood.

'Are you ready to go miko?' Sesshoumaru asked from directly behind her and her heart stuttered as she jumped several feet into the air.

'Would you _not_ do that please!' she cried as she struggled to control her breathing. The demon lord blinked.

'Do…what?' he asked in confusion. Kagome looked at him in mild annoyance.

'Sneaking up behind me like that!' she explained. 'You almost gave me a heart attack!'

Sesshoumaru, for his part, was still trying to work out exactly what the problem was. 'I did not…sneak.' He said, confusion now creeping onto his face as well as in his voice. Kagome considered him for a moment before shaking her head.

'Never mind.' She told him with a wave of her hand. 'Just don't do it again.'

And she walked off, leaving a very confused demon lord in her wake.

**xxx…xxx**

Naraku watched as Sesshoumaru and Kagome detached themselves from the group. He was pleased. Everything was going according to plan; it was time to unlock his secret weapon.

Takashi had mingled nicely into the group and was fully trusted by everyone but that little green toad; but that wouldn't matter. He wouldn't be hard to kill. Looking up from Kanna's mirror, he studied his first detachment carefully. Her pale eyes where blank, showing no emotion on her face. Kanna gazed back intently, as if daring her master to judge her.

Naraku was the first to look away as he settled his gaze back on the mirror. It was currently watching Inuyasha and his friends as they travelled through the woods towards a small town. The hanyou grinned as he considered the possibilities.

'Dear, dear me Takashi. Look what a mess your about to make.' He said in mock concern before he smiled evilly and clenched his fist around the small, beating object that had appeared in his hand.

**oxo…oxo**

**Wow! Another chapter finished! **

**Ok, a few things. One, I would like to thank UltraGenius and my friend Leah for giving me an incredible idea for chapters to come, thanks you guys! **

**Two, I would like to ask everyone again to please, Review!!!! I can't do this without your brilliant support! I know I'm in the 40's and that that's a pretty hefty number but I need MORE!!!! lol!**

**And three, I would like to thank all of my reviewers from the bottom of my heart! THANK YOU!!!!!**


	15. Chapter 15

'_**Being a woman is like being powerful; if you have to tell people, your not.'**_

**Chapter 15 up and at ya!**** Special thanks again to UltraGeinus and Leah for making this chapter possible! (Also, I urge you to take some time to read UltraGeinus's new story and review it! And thank you for taking the time to read min, even if you don't review! ^_^)**

**oxo…oxo**

Takashi paused in his thought as he felt a ripping sensation in his chest. It wasn't painful, but it felt like it should be. He took a sharp breath in, but when he let it go, something was missing. It took him a few seconds to work out what it was but when he realised, his eyes flew open.

_My heartbeat! My heartbeats gone!_ His mind screamed at him and he felt himself become dizzy. His head span and his feet came to a stop as he stared at the grass, laboured breaths escaping him in waves.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! _He cussed in his head as he felt his consciousness loosing control. Why now? After he had gotten close to Inuyasha and the gang! He didn't want to hurt any of them but with the way this was going, that wish wasn't soon to be granted.

Inuyasha had stopped in front of him and turned to look at him in concern. 'Takashi?' he asked wearily as he stepped slowly closer. 'Are you ok?' he had seen this kind of behaviour before. It was a lot like the time when Kagome had been possessed by Takemaru and had been battling for control. He frowned. _Oh dear…_

Takashi could feel his vision going red and fought fruitlessly for control, but Naraku won –_ it must be him! –_ And his mind became black. A hissing sound erupted from his throat as he raised his head, eyes blood red again, and glared at the hanyou before him. Inuyasha took a couple of steps back in confusion and fear before he drew his Tetsusiaga unwillingly.

The demon that had once been his friend bared his teeth before drawing his katana and lunging at the dog demon, a mad glint in his ruby eyes.

**xxx…xxx**

Sesshoumaru and Kagome had arrived at the mountains in record time, shooting through the trees like whippets. Kagome had found, with sheer delight, that she was faster than the lord. Being smaller and quicker would be a huge advantage to fighting in the mountains and it would give Kagome a good chance to conjure some sort of power from her otherwise fairly pointless sword.

They spent most of that day sparing and by the end of it Kagome was breathing heavily and was rather flushed. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, looked as if he had just come from a pleasure cruse; not a hair out of place.

Kagome scowled at him and his perfectness. _How the hell can he be so…so…unaffected?_ She thought. It just wasn't fair. Slowly, she lit the fire and began poking at it, trying to imagine it as Sesshoumaru.

Said dog demon watched as Kagome sulked and raised an eyebrow before lowering himself into the only grassy clearing they had found. _What's she being all huffy about?_ He wondered as she looked up at him with a half-hearted glare. He stared back at her, his face expressionless though he knew she would probably be able to smell his confusion. Suddenly, the girl sighed before throwing back her head and gazing at the stars.

'There so beautiful' she whispered softly and a tingle went up Sesshoumaru's spine as he followed her gaze to the small little white lights in the darkness.

'Indeed.' He mused and Kagome turned to look at him thoughtfully.

'Do you often look at the stars?' she asked quietly. The dog demon didn't answer for a while, continuing to watch the stars but when he did answer, it was in a tone of voice Kagome had only heard him use once before.

'I would like to do so more.' He said softly, his eyes swivelling towards Kagome and watching her.

The orange light of the fire Kagome had built glinted in his eyes and at that moment, he took her breath away. Now, more than ever, she wanted to kiss him, to tell him she loved him, to feel his body against hers; but it was not to be. Sesshoumaru looked away and the moment was gone. _Only a memory…_

**xxx…xxx**

After another day of training, most of which made up of Kagome's fruitless efforts to beat Sesshoumaru, Kagome had finally achieved her objective; to get an attack from her sword. She called it the 'frozen blood' attack as it consisted of a red beam of intense light exploding from her sword and freezing everything it hit in red ice. The attack slightly disturbed the miko, but she now understood what Totosai had been talking about there being 'a darker side to the beauty'.

Morning came the day after without much else happening and when they where all packed up they decided it was time to go back and join the group again. To Kagome's utmost delight, Sesshoumaru was going to stay with them to 'help train her and her powers'. Kagome hoped there was more behind his decision.

The journey back was slower than the journey there and Kagome was filled with dread when she saw a trail of black smoke rising up into the sky in the direction that Inuyasha's sent was leading them. In a panic, she sped up, Sesshoumaru following quickly behind her, worry for Rin deep in his thoughts.

When they arrived at the smoke, they found the village destroyed. Kagome gasped and her hands flew up to cover her mouth as her head rocked left and right. Sesshoumaru scowled, his eyes narrowing and the edge of his lips curling slightly.

Suddenly, there was a bout of manic laughter from somewhere in the rubble and Kagome took a step back as the noise got louder. _I know that voice! _She thought desperately. _But it can't be him! He was our friend!_

'No way! Takashi?' she exclaimed and Sesshoumaru looked at her with startled eyes. When he turned back, the ice demon was standing there, a mad glint in his eyes and a bloody katana in hand.

He began laughing again, his mouth curved upwards in a manic smile as he liked the blood from his katana. Kagome watched him in horror as he swallowed the blood and grinned. Sesshoumaru growled.

'Your friends are dead.' Takashi said in glee. Kagome sucked her breath in and Sesshoumaru snarled. 'They where easy to kill; too naive, too trusting. It didn't take long. But I can't forget the feeling of ripping them in half…the little girl was especially tasty, screaming for mercy as I ripped her in half…' he stated tauntingly as he grinned up at them. Sesshoumaru snapped, a feral snarl ripping from his throat in anger.

'And you'll be next!' he yelled, startling Kagome as he shot forward in his anger, determined to destroy the beast in front of him. Takashi laughed loudly as he dodged the Inu's enraged attacks.

'Your gunna have to do better than that!' he cried as he jumped on top of a plank of wood that had once belonged to a building. Sesshoumaru growled. _Calm down!_ He thought urgently. _You will never beat him in this state! Just look at how terrible your aim has been so far._

Taking a deep breath in, he drew Tokijin before leaping towards the still grinning ice demon. 'Now we're talking!' Takashi murmured happily as he continued to dodge Sesshoumaru's attacks.

Meanwhile, Kagome was watching with silent tears running down her face, her hands clutched to her chest. Her friends where dead; killed by someone they held dear. Suddenly, a strong pair of hands grabbed her and she felt the cold metal of a blade come against her throat. She gulped. _This is so not my day._ She thought bitterly as she struggled to look back at her attacker. He was a huge bear demon, able to crush her in an instant. There was no getting out of this one.

'Sesshoumaru!' she screamed as she retreated to instincts in her despair. The Inu swung round and his eyes widened as he saw Kagome being held captive by the huge rouge bear demon, a look of pure despair on her face. He grunted in slight surprise as he was caught by Takashi who had punched him in the jaw while he had been preoccupied and had sent him flying across the village, causing him to smash into a roof of one of the houses.

'Don't turn your back on the enemy!' he yelled as Sesshoumaru dug himself out of the rubble, blood dripping down his face. Smirking, Takashi looked at Kagome. She gazed at him with half-hearted hatred. He laughed quietly before bending down to pick up a large stick from the floor. 'Listen here dog.' He started, turning back to the Youki he was fighting. 'Every time you hit me, the bear demon will tighten his grip on Kagome until.' He snapped the stick in his hands and a crack filled the air. Sesshoumaru and Kagome's eyes widened and Takashi grinned. 'And, if you go to try and save her, he will slit her throat. You would never get to her in time.'

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru helplessly and saw the steely determination set in his eyes. _No…_ she thought in panic. _He can't sacrifice himself for me! There going to kill me anyway, no…!_

Sesshoumaru dropped his sword and glared at the ice demon. His decision had been made. He would not watch as Kagome died. He would rather die himself than have Kagome die. He would find a way to save her but he needed time to work out a plan. Takashi smiled widely before racing over and punching Sesshoumaru continually in the gut, lifting the lords feet off the floor with it's power.

_No…_

He finally kicked the Inu in the head, causing him to fly into a tree by the side of the clearing before laughing.

_No…_

Sesshoumaru got to his feet, blood covering his cloths as he clutched his stomach with one hand and glared at the demon. Glancing at Kagome, he noted her horrified look and watched her eyes widen as Takashi stabbed him through his middle with his own Tokijin. His own eyes widened as he felt his life begin to die._ I…can't…die…_the thought was the thing that kept him alive long enough to see what havened next.

'_NO!'_ Kagome screamed, her eyes shut as she tried to block out the image of Sesshoumaru's blood. The wind began to whip around her becoming faster and faster. The bear demon stepped away from her in confusion and fear and Takashi had stopped laughing. Kagome felt something wake in her. She didn't know what it was but, for some reason, she trusted it. Opening her eyes from the loss of grip, Sesshoumaru saw that they where blood red, her fangs more prominent as she began to growl. It was a fierce growl that caused even Sesshoumaru to step away slightly. Slowly, her face began to elongate, her limbs growing furry and longer. Her hair became attached down her back and she bent over, putting her front paws on the ground.

They watched as her legs began to grow and she began to fill out all over, growing fur and claws. By the time she was finished she had become a giant black dog. She opened her mouth and roared, causing the wind around her to scatter. Sesshoumaru looked at her in wonder. She looked like him when he was a beast except that she was smaller, had black fur and green markings. She had two white streaks of white fur down her neck from her ears and was more feminine in the way she moved than most of the demons he had seen. Even as a beast she was beautiful, her greeny-golden eyes taking in the scene before her. The bear demon, having no sense, attacked; swinging himself onto her back and clawing at her fur. She growled before spinning round and catching the demon with a paw, smashing his head against the rocky ground, killing him at once. Then, she turned her eyes back on Takashi.

The ice demon stepped back in fear as her lips came back in a snarl, directed angrily at him. His eyes where wide as he yanked the blade out of Sesshoumaru and pointed it at Kagome.

Sesshoumaru gasped as the pain hit him. His vision was becoming blurred but he forced himself to stay awake. Takashi, realising how out of his depth he was, dropped Tokijin and ran into the forest. She followed him for a distance to make sure he was gone before returning. To Sesshoumaru and becoming her human looking self again. Breathlessly, she put her arms around Sesshoumaru's shoulders at support him gently. His eyes didn't open at her touch and for a moment, she expected the worst. Checking his pulse, she sighed a heavy sigh of relief at its strong beat. Pulling off his top, she checked his wound. It went right through him and was bleeding heavily. Ripping her sleeves off from her shoulders, she strapped them around his stomach to try and stop the bleeding slightly before she sheathed Tokijin and picked him up in her arms. Quickly, she carried him off along a path towards the cave that she had stayed in with Kouga the other time she had thought Inuyasha dead.

It was on the way that she began to smell them. It was that familiar smell of her friends and it was fresh. Hopeful again, she sped up, willing herself not to stop. When she arrived, she smiled slightly in relief. They where all there; looking worse for wear but alive. Inuyasha was the first to notice her.

'Kagome!' he cried in relief as he tried to get up only to be pushed back down by a scolding Rin whom seemed to be the nurse figure in the cave. She turned to look at the newcomer but her smile faltered as she saw who she was carrying.

'Sesshoumaru-sama!' she cried, rushing forwards to look at the unconscious demon on Kagome's shoulders.

'What happened?' Sango asked, taking in his bloody face and Kagome's ripped sleeves.

'He was stabbed by Takashi.' She told them sadly, moving to lay Sesshoumaru on the ground to treat him. When she took her sleeves off, they gasped.

'How did _Sesshoumaru_ get stabbed _that_ bad? I was sure he would have killed the lying basted!' Inuyasha exclaimed in mild shock. Kagome looked up at him sadly.

'I was in trouble and Takashi told him that the bear holding me would crush me if he fought back.' She explained quietly and all eyes turned to Sesshoumaru.

'He did that for you?' Miroku asked. Kagome nodded.

'It's because he loves you.' Jaken said, speaking nicely to Kagome for the first time since she had met him. The miko looked at him in saddened gratitude and he smiled back at her. 'I'm not just saying it either; he has for a while. I was going to let him tell you that but he's not really one to admit his feelings.'

Kagome was slightly startled but movement from the floor made her remember what she needed to do. Nodding quickly to Jaken, she began to rummage through her bag for some bandages. Sesshoumaru moved his head and groaned slightly, his eyes flickering open for a moment before they closed again. Pulling out the bandages, she began to strap him up, to stop the flow of blood from draining his body. _I am so going to need a new kimono…_ she thought as she inspected the damage done to it before picking Sesshoumaru up and resting him in a corner. She sat next to him and watched him sleep, a small frown on her face. Looking up, she turned to Sango.

'What happened to all of you?' she asked. 'I thought you where all dead!'

Sango tutted slightly. 'Do you really think that little of us?' she asked in mock offence.

'Of course not, it's just that Takashi said you where. He said…he said…' Kagome shivered, unable to finish that sentence. Sango shook her head.

'No… we escaped, but barely. It was really thanks to Ah-Un.' She said, a prideful note in her voice as she spoke of the dragon. 'He was able to keep Takashi at bay long enough for us all to escape. Inuyasha was hurt the worst as he had been the closed to him when he changed and didn't want to fight him. He chased us to that village and killed all the people while looking for us. We fought a little when needed but mainly we fled. I was about to be killed when Ah-Un showed up. Takashi's an ice demon so he's especially susceptible to fire.' She explained. 'He saved my life.'

Kagome was in ewe, but something had occurred to her. 'Where is Ah-Un?' she asked, a slight tone to her voice that suggested something bad.

'Oh, don't worry, he's not dead.' Shippo told her assuringly, noting her worried tone and expression. Kagome smiled.

'He's scouting the area and making sure nothing comes to hurt us. Ki-La-La is with him.' Miroku explained and the miko nodded. She turned to look back at the demon lying next to her.

'He'll get better. He's strong enough not to die for that.' Inuyasha said quietly and she turned to look at him with question written all over her face. 'It's him you love, isn't it. That's why you sent me away when you told you mum.'

It wasn't really a question, but Kagome nodded anyway. 'Yes. Yes it is.' She said quietly. The wind blew its way around the silent cave as its occupants looked at each other in quiet understanding. It all made since to Inuyasha now. All that time when both Sesshoumaru and Kagome where acting odd, why his brother had said yes to teaching her without giving it much thought, why she had asked hi in the first place and why they always looked at each other in they way they did. They loved each other; like him and Kikyo. They couldn't help it, it just was. Though by the sounds of it, they hadn't told each other yet and if they didn't soon, then, it might become too late.

**xxx…xxx**

It was several days before Sesshoumaru had woken up. His stomach wound had mended easily through his demon powers but the inner head injuries had taken longer to heal. The first thing He had seen when he had opened his eyes had been Kagome and Rin's happy faces. This had brought a slight smile to his face and he sat up slowly, allowing a small amount of time for his head to wake up properly before he tried to think. His first thought where _is this heaven?_ But when he though about it, Kagome shouldn't really be there if that where true so the only other option was that both he and Rin where alive. Happiness buzzed through him at that thought and he did something very unexpected; he leant forward and hugged the pair, planting soft kisses onto both of their foreheads. Rin giggled but Kagome was shocked.

_I think something must have happened to his brain when he was hit! _Kagome thought and was glad that the others where out collecting food and firewood. She also hadn't told anyone about her transformation; it scared her slightly. Silently, she wondered if Sesshoumaru had been awake for it but in the few days after, he didn't say a word about it.

When she was sure he was back to his senses, she sat down next to him, alone. The other's where out, preferring to be out in the sun than the dark of the cave. Looking up at him with serious eyes she asked. 'Why did you do that? Sacrifice yourself for me I mean.'

Sesshoumaru looked at her thoughtfully before looking away. 'Because it was my duty.' He said, not meeting her eyes. Kagome sighed.

'Fine.' She told him bluntly. 'Don't tell me. But I will be wanting a good answer to that question one day and on that day you will not be saying anything about duty.' She warned him before getting up and walking toward the cave entrance. Sesshoumaru watched her, slightly confused before he remembered something.

'Kagome?' he asked and she turned, hand on the rocky wall as she eyed him curiously.

'Yes?'

Sesshoumaru paused. Did he really want to know? Did he really need to ask? 'Do you…do you love Inuyasha?' he asked, his tone apprehensive. The miko smiled.

'No. Not any more.' She told him before stepping out into the brilliant sunshine outside.

_Well done Kagome…_ he thought proudly and with some joy at her answer as he listened to the miko walking away. _You are a full demon at last._

**xxx…xxx**

It took another several days before he was well enough to walk and a few more after that before they could travel again as he had refused to ride either Ki-La-La or Ah-Un. In that time, the group had decided they had to kill Takashi if they ever saw him again but they all agreed not to go looking for him.

Unfortunately, they where going to run into him sooner than they expected and it wasn't going to be a fun ride when they did.

**oxo…oxo**

**Well, that's chapter 15 done and dusted. I really do think I've got the rest planned now but if anyone has any ideas about what could happen next, please let me know. I would love to hear your suggestions! ^_^**

**Also I would like to thank all of you who have stuck with this story as all your support has given me the umph I needed to write this much with out having a major block! So thank you all very much! Love you all!**

**Please REVIEW!!! Cookies for all you reviewers!**


	16. Chapter 16

'_**It is always wise to look to the future, but it's difficult to look father than you can see.'**_

**Chapter 16!**

**oxo…oxo**

The group made their way steadily through the woods, heading towards a small stream to drink. The stream was crystal clear and cool to the touch; heaven for wandering travellers.

There had been a noticeable path of destruction; wrecked villages, destroyed trees, that they guessed was Takashi and his demon minions. Villagers had been killed, just for his pleasure. It sickened Sesshoumaru to think they had trusted him, when all along, he had been an uncivilised murderer.

They where heading back to the demon dress makers house to get Kagome's kimono fixed, but Sesshoumaru was unsure as to whether they should trust her but Kagome seemed adamant that she was good. Apparently, she had hated Takashi.

'But she gave you no warning Kagome.' Inuyasha had pointed out as they rested by the stream. Kagome glared at him slightly out the corner of her eye as she dipped her feet in the cool water.

'I didn't say she new he was evil, just that she didn't like him much.' She replied, a hard edge to her voice that told the hanyou he was treading in rather precarious territory. He gulped slightly before nodding, deciding he didn't want to get into any more trouble with the miko than he already had.

They continued on soon after, keeping at a steady pace while still making good headway. They arrived at dusk that evening and Kagome ran hurriedly up to the door, not wanting to be out in the cold with out a proper set of cloths. Sesshoumaru stretched slightly as he followed her, body stiff from the several days he spent not moving. Inuyasha and the others had decided to camp outside, to keep from intruding on her with all of them.

The miko knocked loudly, listening intently for any movement inside. Finally, she heard a small rattle as someone made their way cautiously to the door. Kagome smiled as the door opened and Kimi's silver eyes gazed out at her. The snake demon smiled as she recognised Kagome, opening the door wider and beckoning them inside.

When both where inside, she turned to Kagome ad hugged her. 'Oh, I'm so glad you're still alive! I was a bit worried when you left with Takashi.' She murmured in the miko's ear softly.

'Why?' Kagome asked as the girl let go of her. Kimi looked up at her guiltily.

'Well, Takashi is one of Naraku's newest incarnations.' She explained; a strong sense of guilt in her voice as she spoke. Kagome frowned.

'Why didn't you tell me?' she asked in annoyance.

'Well I never got the chance to; he was always with you. Besides, he seemed to be nice. He always did whenever I saw him and he once told me he was the only one of Naraku's group that still had his heart. I guess now that he must have ticked Takashi into joining your group and getting you to trust him before he took his heart away and used it to control him.' The dressmaker explained. Kagome looked at her blankly before sighing.

'So you believe it wasn't him?' she asked and Kimi nodded. Sighing again, Kagome sat heavily down n one of the chairs placed in the hallway. 'Fine, but do you think you could fix my kimono please?'

Kimi smiled slightly before nodding and hurrying of to find the miko something to wear while she was waiting. It didn't take long for the girl to finish fixing the kimono but the group decided to stay their as it would save them having to move again. Kimi told them the boys were welcome to camp in the garden and that Kagome, Rin and Sango could stay in the little house with her.

When morning arrived, they where all rested and ready to go but the moment the girls had stepped from the hut, it was destroyed in a huge crash; wood flying everywhere and the force of the wind blowing them over. Pushing themselves up off the grass, they looked up to see a grinning Takashi, standing over the large pile of what used to be Kimi's home.

The snake demon hissed at him in anger, no longer caring that he was being used. _Now that's going way too far!_ She thought angrily as she watched him laugh. Hissing again, she leapt at him, yelling slightly as she bared her fangs ready to strike.

'Kimi, no!' Kagome cried desperately, trying to stop her friend from killing herself, but it was too late. Takashi stabbed her through the heart with his katana. The snake demon gasped in pain and shock. Kagome put a hand to her mouth in horror at what had happened. Everyone else's eyes where wide as they watched the scene before them. Time seemed to stop as they stood, frozen. Suddenly, Kimi let out a cough, breaking the stillness as blood escaped her mouth and she looked into Takashi's eyes pitifully. The ice demon just grinned before throwing her to the side and from his sword. She grunted softly as she landed but was dead before Kagome reached her, eyes glazed over, the look of shock still in place.

Kagome shook her head as she looked down at her friend sadly. Slowly, she closed the girl's eyes and laid her straight onto the ground. Looking up, there was a hint of determination in her smooth features. She stood up, drawing her sword ant pointing it at Takashi, eyes hard with determination. Takashi smirked.

'Come on then girly! Let's see what you've got!' he exclaimed as he pushed himself forward and swung his blade at Kagome. She blocked it easily before ducking under his other arm and punching him swiftly in the gut. He blanched slightly before swinging his body round in a low kick. Kagome dodge the kick before leaping away and disappearing from Takashi's sight. He looked around in slight panic before rotating swiftly on the ball of his foot and blocking the sword that had almost struck him with his katana. 'That's cheating.' He spat angrily as he pushed Sesshoumaru back and sent him across the clearing where he landed on his feet next to the group.

'Don't turn your back on the enemy.' Kagome said quietly in his ear and his eyes widened as she hit him over the head with the fist containing her sword, wrapped the chain around his arm, pulled him back towards her and kicked him so that he flew high into the air and smacked into a large tree, tearing it from its roots. There was a resounding thud as the tree hit the ground and Takashi grunted as he landed on the earth beside it.

'Bitch.' He said fiercely as he struggled to his feet and spat out the blood that had gathered in his mouth. Wiping his lips, he glared at the girl standing before him. She was looking at him with a blank expression, as if she had just walked by and hadn't done anything. His red eyes narrowed in anger.

**xxx…xxx**

Kagura watched Kanna's mirror carefully. She had promised Takashi that if he ever lost control she would do something to hep; be it getting him free for a bit or killing him. She weighed her options. She new he would prefer his freedom, if only for a few minutes but she also new that it would be the harder and riskier route. Still, that was what was best and in the past few days; she had come up with a plan.

Walking away from her elder sister, she began to make her way towards Naraku's room. It was his time of weakness at the moment and while that would mean he would be at his weakest, it also meant that he would be at his most alert. Slowly, she crept down the stars that lead to his chamber, using the wind to make herself lighter and quieter. When she reached the bottom, she looked around.

The stone corridor was lit by fire torches at every other interval but there was no one in sight so she cautiously continued to walk. It would not be unlikely that Naraku had taken the heart into his enclosed sleeping area with him but she decided to check the other room's first; just in case. To her joy and relief, she found the heart on a stand in his meeting room. Walking in hesitantly, she picked the heart up and sat down n the floor in a meditative position, keeping the heart held up to her breast. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on its beating, making it slow to its normal rate rather than the fast pace of before. When it was done, she opened her eyes again. She placed the heart back on its stand before exiting the room and climbing back up the stairs.

_That should give him enough time._ She thought as she walked quietly down the corridor. _Naraku won't notice until he goes into the room and that isn't going to be for a while. So good luck and goodbye; Takashi my friend._

**xxx…xxx**

Takashi had lunged at Kagome who had blocked him skilfully when he felt his hold on himself return. _Thank you Kagura. I knew I could count on you. _He thought gratefully as he pulled back from Kagome's sword. Slowly, he assessed the situation. He had seen everything that had been going on and knew all of the things he had done. He looked at Kagome with sad eyes. The miko was watching him in ewe. His eyes had turned back to their brown colour of before and his features had lost that crazed look.

'Takashi?' she asked warily as he lowered his sword and dropped to his knees.

'I am so sorry Kagome.' He whispered quietly, silent tears running down his cheeks. Kagome took a step forwards but was unable to come any closer due to Takashi's arm. He looked up at her and shook his head. 'Don't come any closer. I don't know how long this control will last. I don't want to hurt you any more.' He told the girl with a sad smile. Taking a deep breath in, he stood up and looked over to the rest of the group who where standing a little further off. Bowing slightly he said; 'I wish I could make it up to you but I don't have the time to do that, so I hope you will accept my apology. I am truly sorry of what I have done to you. I was not myself. Naraku had been using me to get to you. I do not ask that you forgive me, I just hope that you understand.'

His speech was met with silence and as he raised his head he saw blank faces. 'I forgive you Takashi.' Kagome told him and he looked around at her in surprise. She was smiling gently at him and he smiled back.

'As do I.' Sesshoumaru's voice said tonelessly and they all turned to look at him before Inuyasha smiled to, nodding at Takashi. The rest followed suit, one by one. Takashi smiled at them all in joyful relief, thankful that he wouldn't have to leave them on a bad note.

'Thank you. All of you; and goodbye.' He said softly before raising his sword again. Kagome frowned and took a step backwards but Takashi lifted his sword up to his own chest before plunging the blade right through his heart. Kagome squeaked in horror as she watched the life drain from his body. Coughing up blood, he smiled up at the sky. He was going to be free. Free of all the worldly horrors and he would not be able to kill anyone else. 'Goodbye.' He whispered before he fell to the ground, his eyes closed and a smile across his face.

The group was stunned. _He just killed himself!_ Kagome's thoughts where saying, over and over again. Tears where running down her face as she walked over to her friend's body, turned him onto his back and pulled the Katana from his chest. She did not move as Sesshoumaru walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Do not worry; he is free now.' He told her softly and she looked up at him in surprise before throwing herself into his arms and sobbing into his chest. The demon lord stood there for a moment before he wrapped his own arms around the girl. No longer was he worried about breaking her. He needed to tell her the truth: but not now. Not while she was in such pain. It could well be more than she could take right now, so he settled for holding her until she had finished and her tears had soaked his cloths.

**xxx…xxx**

When Naraku woke from his hanyou slumber he had the strange feeling that something was wrong. Getting up quickly, he almost ran into his meeting room and his breathing stopped as he saw the heart. It was black and lifeless. Takashi was dead.

Gritting his teeth, he struggled to remain in control of his anger but it consumed him and he saw nothing but red as she roared and smashed the door into pieces with his hands. When he realised what he was doing, he straightened quickly and growled. No one had made him this angry in a while and he decided to blame it on the fact that he had just awoken.

But how had Takashi died? He had been perfect; unable to die from a mere sword wound. It was confusing but Naraku didn't have the time or patience to try and understand it. Still fuming, he stormed out of the room and up the stairs to create another plan. _And this one needs to be BRILLIENT! No, PERRFECT! _His head roared as he made his way to find Kanna and come up with this brilliant plan.

**oxo****…oxo**

**Well, as you can probably guess, this story is coming to a close but I believe that there may be one last chapter! I mean of course there is! I can't exactly leave it like that can I? So, be ready and waiting for it!**

**And please REVIEW! More cookie's for reviewers! Chocolate chip ones! **


	17. Chapter 17

'_**That all seems believable to me; along with flying pigs and the tooth fairy!'**_

**Warning – this is going to be a fluff chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

**oxo…oxo**

The gang buried Kimi and Takashi together beside the house. Even though Takashi had killed Kimi, it felt somehow right to bury them together; as if their spirits wished it to be so. They had also decided to rebuild Kimi's home as it had seemed to mean so much to her. It took some time, in which Kikyo had arrived to help them, but when they had finished, it looked beautiful again. Kikyo and Kagome had become good friends now they where no longer love rivals and they found that apart fro the obvious differences, they really where quite alike.

However, Kagome was still having trouble getting over the fact that her friends where dead and this made it hard for Sesshoumaru to find the right time to tell her his feelings. This went on for days until he finally caught her, putting flowers on the graves with no one else in sight. Figuring this would have to do, he walked over and sat next to her on the soil. Kagome turned to look at him with a smile.

'Good morning Sesshoumaru. Is something troubling you?' she asked, noting the fact that he wasn't meeting her eyes. Shifting in his seat slightly, Sesshoumaru looked up at her.

'You know that conversation we had in the cave?' he asked slowly, his voice quiet and slightly timid. Kagome nodded, her eyes widening slightly. 'Well, you asked me why I sacrificed myself for you. I gave you an unsatisfactory answer and I apologise for that but now I wish to give you a satisfactory one.' He looked away awkwardly, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Kagome remained silent, her breath held as she waited for the promised answer. 'I did that because…I love you.'

Kagome's eyes widened further than she ever thought possible as she tried to take in what he had just told her. _He loves me… he loves me… OH MY GOD HE LOVES ME!_ She thought wildly, her head spinning. It was her dreams come true. Sesshoumaru, lord of the western lands and brother to Inuyasha loved her. A small tear fell down her cheek and Sesshoumaru became worried. _Did I say something wrong? _But then she smiled happily and launched herself at the surprised demon for the second time that week.

'I love you too.' She told him softly and his eyes widened in surprise before they returned to normal and he smiled softly, cradling her in his arms. Slowly, he lifted her face up so her lips met his softly. He felt her smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her lips further against his. Her hands became tangled into his hair and his where the same in hers, clutching her soft locks and pushing her even closer.

'It's about time already!' Sango's voice said and they split apart quickly to see her, Miroku, Inuyasha and Kikyo watching them with identical grins on their faces. Kagome could feel the blood rising in her cheeks and Sesshoumaru's hands balling into fists as she watched her friends watching her with their devil grins.

'What do you mean…?' Kagome asked hesitantly, fiddling with the fabric on her sleeves.

'That you two got together stupid!' Inuyasha said with a grin. Kagome flushed further. 'Now there's just one couple that needs taking care of.' He murmured happily before pushing Sango into Miroku. Their lips met as they landed on the ground and both of their eyes widened considerably in surprise. Kagome covered her mouth to stop from laughing and Kikyo put her arms round the grinning Inuyasha.

The pair on the ground split apart quickly, both holding blushes and Miroku scratching the back of his head nervously. Suddenly, Sango squealed and a resounding smack echoed through the clearing as Miroku got slapped for once again groping Sango. The other sighed. _When will he ever learn? _Kagome thought in exasperation. Smiling, she looked back at Sesshoumaru. He was watching the bickering pair intently. Kagome's smile widened slightly. She loved him, and she now new he loved her. It was a perfect ending and yet, she had the feeling that it everything was only just beginning. Leaning back, she settled herself against his chest. 'I love you Sesshoumaru.' She whispered quietly and could smell the happiness and love that came off him.

'I love you too, even before that night in the woods. And I always will. Forever and ever.'

**oxo…oxo**

**I'm sorry that this is so short but I thought that this chapter would be better on its own than at the end of the other one. **

**So! This is the end. It sounds so sad but to me it's a really good thing! You see, you guys are reading the first ever full length story I have ever finished! I hope you like it! I know I'm quite proud of it! I would like to thank everyone who has read and commented on this story, I am very grateful! **

**Please REVIEW!!! Double chocolate chip cookies for reviewers!!! **

**For those of you who are interested, my next story is going to be a bleach one. I haven't got a title or a disruption yet but I have a pretty good idea of where it is going. Basically, they hold a captains exam in the English soul society to get three captains for the Japanese one. If you like this idea and/or have any idea's that could be god, please let me know. I love to hear your opinions! **

**Thanks, **

_**Animeloveramy **_


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